PERNICE BROTHERS

Overcome By Happiness (Sub Pop/Independent)

You could be forgiven for thinking that the world doesn’t need yet another band in thrall to the conspicous delights of The Beach Boys, The Raspberries, Big Star et al. But one listen to the Pernice Brothers and the planet seems a warmer and somehow kinder place.

A six-piece formed around the core duo of former Scud Mountain Boy Joe Pernice and his brother Bob, this is American guitar pop at its chime-smittenly melodic best. With no less than three guitar players complementing Michael Deming’s gentle piano chords and a string and horn section lingering invitingly in the background, Overcome By Happiness sounds almost too good to be true.

‘Monkey Suit’ and ‘Wait To Stop’ are Bandwagonesque-esque (sic), out Teenage Fanclubbing Teenage Fanclub (no mean feat that), the latter being a spectacular yearn-fest as our love-lorn Mr. Pernice is driven half-crazy “waiting for the wait to stop”. He’s at it again on the mournful ‘Dimmest Star’, which could bring a salty tear from Lot’s wife, as our lorn-of-love Pernice pleads ‘don’t leave my troubled life’.

The bittersweet tone is a constant, thanks to the generous use of minor chords, as on ‘Wherein Obscurely’, but there’s also the odd cynical jab as on the puke-sodden ‘Shoes And Clothes’ or the title track, which cloak nefarious lyrics in bright and breezy arrangements that sound like the reason they invented radio in the first place.

One of the finest albums of the year, Overcome By Happiness basks in its quiet, reflective glory.

Nick Kelly