Released in conjunction with his novel of the same name, Joe
Pernice’s latest CD features covers of nine songs mentioned in the
book, an instrumental by the narrator’s fictional band and several
spoken excerpts from the novel. Anyone who’s appreciated Pernice’s
previous work will find a lot to love in this collection. It marks a
return for Pernice to more straightforward, less ornate arrangements
after the increasingly lush efforts of the Pernice Brothers. Largely
acoustic, the album is highlighted by a downbeat version of Sammy
Johns’ “Chevy Van,” a spare, elegiac take on Todd Rundgren’s “Hello
It’s Me” and a sparkling rendition of Del Shannon’s “I Go to Pieces,”
along with tracks by Dream Syndicate, Sebadoh and Tom T. Hall. The song
choices and style reflect Pernice’s career-long fascination with ’70s
soft rock and the singer-songwriter genre, which he makes into
something pretty, tender and earnest without a lot of emotional
pretense. The fast-moving novel follows a twentysomething slacker who
leaves his wife for the abandoned New England home of a newly divorced
sibling. The story is dotted with musical references and the odd patter
of male bonding as Pernice artfully traces the narrator’s reconnection
with the world. — Chris Parker
This article appears in Aug 5-11, 2009.
