Time to drop some of the green stuff on some vinyl
By DAN FERGUSON For all intents and purposes, these days the Pernice Brothers is essentially Joe Pernice. Back in the day, there was brother Bob and assorted co-horts from Northampton, MA where Pernice was based, but that was a long time ago. Pernice has called Toronto home for some time, but returns to his native Northeast for the occasional shows. It has been five years since the last Pernice Brothers album. The new Who Will You Believe breaks that dry spell.. It marks the Pernice Brothers’ debut for longstanding indie New West Records. Based on what these ears hear on this latest, it should be welcomed by Pernice Brothers fans far and wide. It is in the Ear Bliss spotlightthis weekalong with the new album from masterful contemporary guitarist Julian Lage called Speak to Me. Let’s take a look.
Pernice Brothers Who Will You Believe
New West Records It’s hard to believe that the Pernice Brothers as a recording entity has been at it for over 25 years. The band made its debut it 1998 with the highly recommended indie pop album Overcome by Happiness for trailblazing label and darling of the indie sceneatthetime, SubPopRecords. Formed by Joe Pernice following the breakup of his previous band, Scud Mountain Boys, Pernice ditched the slow core alt country sounds of the Scuds for one with more pop appeal, hence, the Pernice Brothers was born. Over the years, the core of the band winnowed down to essentially Joe Pernice with various co-horts, including his brother Bob, joining him on the seven albums that followed Overcome by Happiness. Who Will You Believe is the latest album and ninth overall under the Pernice Brothers moniker and marks the band’s debut for highly regarded indie New West Records. Pop bliss, Pernice Brothers-style, happens immediately on Who Will You Believe with the jangly title track which leads off the album. From the poignant “How Will We Sleep” to the moving closing track “The Purple Rain” inspired by the death of two close friends (one of whom was indie artist David Berman of Silver Jews and Purple Mountains fame) and a family member, the songs of Who Will You Believe confront many of the things we all think about as we age and the fuse of our own mortality gets shorter. “I try to stop myself every day and tell myself that one of these days is going to be my last. It sounds morbid on the surface, but I don’t think it is. It helps me live in the present, and for me that’s pretty uplifting. Once you get past the scary part, it’s actually a very peaceful feeling,” says Pernice. On Who Will You Believe, he approaches it all with the grace and wisdom of a fellow who has been around the block a few times and realizes in his own left-handed way that every day is a gift. Visit www.newwestrecords.com/collections/ pernice-brothers.
Julian Lage Speak to Me Blue Note Records
Words are typically nowhere to be found on a Julian Lage album and his latest offering called Speak to Me is no exception. Put simply, Lage lets the fingers (on the strings of a guitar) do the talking and speak beautifully they do on this 13-track album. For Lage, it is all about tone and the masterful and wide-ranging guitarist finds the right stuff time and again on Speak to Me. Wanted to be just like his dad who also played guitar, Lage began playing guitar at age four. Credit his father who instead of buying his young son the usual acoustic guitar as many parents do, opted for an electric guitar instead. A child prodigy on the six-string, it set Lage on a journey that has resulted in multiple solo albums, not to mention accompaniment work on countless other records. Produced by Joe Henry (Bonnie Raitt, Rhiannon Giddens, Allen Toussaint, Mose Allison and more), Speak to Me features Lage in multiple settings from acoustic solo to duo to his usual trio set-up to fullon ensemble. It finds him flirting with everything from jazz to fusion to touches of twang to full-on skronk to contemporary folk to even a touch of surf. The album is at moments light as a feather in presentation, in others intricate and complex, but always feeling freshly improvisational at the same time. It is that quality that helped bring together Lage and Henry. Says Lage in the accompanying press release, “Ever so discreetly, he would guide things.” He goes on to say, “Joe holds a space for things to happen. Sometimes that means getting everyone out