As the Pernice Brothers launch another tour, critics are once again fawning over singer-songwriter Joe Pernice’s surprising tenor (nothing like it has been heard since the Bee Gees’ Odessa) and literate lyrics. The Brothers’ fourth studio album, Discover a Lovelier You, has just been released, and at least one well-placed notice suggests that the PBs may just be “the best pop band on the planet.”
But Pernice won’t be suffering from a swollen noggin — if only because he’s not reading his reviews. “It’s weird,” says the Massachusetts native. “I spend a lot of time writing my own songs, right? So I spend a lot of time in my head. Then I record my own songs, and I put out my own records. Then I go on tour and I play my own songs, and it’s all pretty Joe-centric. What I probably don’t need to be doing on top of that is reading what other people think of me.”
This article appears in Jul 13-19, 2005.