Pernice Brothers - Goodbye, Killer (One Little Indian)

Joe Pernice is obviously a busy, creative sort of guy. Just a few months after the release of his solo album It Feels So Good When I Stop, described as a ‘novel soundtrack’ to accompany his book of the same name, here we go again with a new band set. This time round there are ten originals written by Joe and performed with brother Bob (who also produced and mixed these recordings), Ric Merick and James Walbourne.
This is the first album to appear since 2006’s Live a Little under the band’s title, though all the aforementioned appeared on that most recent solo album, while just Joe's face is featured on the colourful cover artwork. At little over 32 minutes, this is a quality rather than quantity collection, which starts in fine fashion with the pop-power of ‘Bechamel’ and the catchy ‘It’s love, it’s love...’ chorus, suggesting a deceptive lightness of tone.
Elsewhere there’s bursts of the trademark sly humour and intelligent lyrics associated with Pernice projects, whether solo or group, together with leanings towards the dark side that has been evident since the days of the band that bought Joe to our attention, the Scud Mountain Boys. The killer element in all this is the guitar work, at one time it is pure pop, occasionally twanging in country fashion but every now and again there comes some searing bursts of hard-hitting rock, such as in ‘Jacqueline Susann’ (named after the ‘Valley of the Dolls’ author), which is travelling along nicely when – wham – that guitar sound hits you in the chops.
There’s more of the same on 'F***ing and Flowers’ (their asterisks not mine!). Away from the pop and rock elements there is even a nod towards vaudeville with 'We Love the Stage’, which is perhaps not so surprising as it seems that Joe and James are contemplating writing a stage musical. While they get busy with that, we can enjoy all that’s on offer with Goodbye, Killer, which, while not as easy to access all areas as some earlier Pernice albums, certainly grows on you with repeated plays