Pernice Brothers, Live a Little - 40m 58s

Tracks & Durations

1. Automation	3:07
2. Somerville	3:35
3. Cruelty To Animals	3:22
4. Zero Refills	4:49
5. Microscopic Views	3:18
6. How Can I Compare	2:50
7. B.S. Johnson	2:22
8. PCH One	3:35
9. Conscience Clean (I Went To Spain)	2:51
10. Lighheaded	2:52
11. High As A Kite	3:13
12. Grudge F***	4:57

Note: The information about this album is acquired from the publicly available resources and we are not responsible for their accuracy.

Review

During and after his days as the leader of Massachusetts band the Scud Mountain Boys, which fizzled after their dazzling 1996 Sub Pop release, Joe Pernice has crafted his songs with a juxtaposed blueprint--hummable melodies and a lush pop tenor camouflaging lyrics that reek of anxiety and aggravation. "Struggling through the S's/Through the tunnels in the trees/Through the sticky optimism hardening in me," he mordantly confesses in "PCH One," among the best of the dozen songs that make up the Pernices' sixth full-length record. Backed by brother Bob and ace guitarist Peyton Pinkerton, Pernice's unblemished voice is the key instrument, whether lamenting a spurious hometown ("Somerville") or summating a breakup ("Conscience Clean") with one telltale line: "So I threw a dart at Europe/She hit Michigan." But the band saves the most poignant track for last, a remake of the Scuds' "Grudge F***," in which Pernice pleads for one last encounter with an ex-lover. It's the kind of song that once sold a million for AM radio bands like Bread, and wraps up in 4:57 what the Pernice Brothers are all about. --Scott HolterLive a Little is the sixth recording by The Pernice Brothers, and it marks as much a return to form as it does a departure from what came before it.

For one thing, there's the reunion of Joe Pernice and producer Michael Deming, who worked on the recordings of Joe's previous band, the Scud Mountain Boys, as well as the very first Pernice Brothers record, Overcome By Happiness. This one has strings AND horns, which has not been part of the formula (and it IS indeed a formula) since OBH. But, and this is a mighty exception, it's much more of a rock record than that was, representing the running of big fat analog tape while sweaty guys played loud rock music on well-crafted instruments through amplifiers and pounded on sweet, old, drum kits. Oh, and it marks a return to New England, having been recorded in Connecticut, which one of the band members used to disparage as nothing more than the state in his when he wanted to travel from Massachusetts to New York. He's now grown to pay it the respect it deserves as a rock mecca, hiding in plain sight.

Lyrically, it's another masterpiece, and if distinctions must be drawn, perhaps this one's a bit more literary, where the last one Discover a Lovelier You was somewhat more cinematic. "PCH One" probably could have been a Scud Mountain Boys song, and "Grudge F*** (2006) was a Scud Mountain Boys song (without the 2006), but instead of the gentle, almost lazy, plaintive plodding of the original recording, the Pernice Brothers version out-Badfingers Badfinger and that's good. You can feel its pain. It also has the trademark Pernice geography obsession. There are eleven very excellently crafted and executed new songs in all, plus the aforementioned "Grudge," which is indeed a stunner.

Other Versions

Albums are mined from the various public resources and can be actually the same but different in the tracks length only. We are keeping all versions now.

Live a Little

Tracks: 12, Disk length: 40m 58s

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