Pernice Brothers (from the album Who Will You Believe

Pernice Brothers (from the album Who Will You Believe

Pernice Brothers (from the album Who Will You Believe available on New West Records) (by Lee Zimmerman)
 
The Pernice Brothers have always been a formidable duo, but in truth, it’s Joe Pernice that consistently takes the lead, both in terms of his efforts alongside his brother Bob and throughout a career that began with the rustic sounds of the Scud Mountain Boys, continued with a super group called New Mendicants alongside Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake, and beyond through his own solo excursions. Who Will You Believe, the Pernice Brothers’ first album of originals in five years, is no exception. Joe has given the band a smooth and soulful selection of songs, several of which sound like they could have been given birth on pop radio in the ‘80s and ‘90s. It’s a somewhat unexpected turn from their usual Americana motif, but it’s also one that should serve them well in terms of broadening their inherent appeal.
 
Surprisingly, many of these songs were borne from sadder circumstance. In 2019, Joe lost two friends and family member in a single six-month period. He sums up his sentiments with the lovely acoustic strum and massed harmonies of “The Purple Rain”, given a lyric that serves a purposeful plea: ‘Remember me to her sea-bound train. Remember me to her fruited plains. Purple mountains and purple rain won’t always separate the shining seas. The wake is washing over me’.
 
A similar sentiment is shared on the sweet serenade “How Will We Sleep”: ‘Growing old seemed like death to me when I was young, now I want to grow old and I want to belong’.
 
The duet with Neko Case, “I Don’t Think I Need That Anymore”, is irresistibly charming, adding another song to the album’s abundance of tuneful delights. So too, the cheery title track, the bouncy and buoyant “Look Alive”, the effusive “A Man of Means”, and the soulful sway of “Hey, Guitar” all add an upward gaze that defies any hint of a pessimistic perspective.  In total, the rich and resilient Who Will You Believe gives its listeners plenty of reason to believe this is, in fact, the Pernice Brothers’ best. (by Lee Zimmerman)
 
Listen and buy the music of The Pernice Brothers from AMAZON
 
For more information head over to The Pernice Brothers website