Artist description "I just wanted to make a pretty and mellow pop record," says Pernice Brothers auteur Joe Pernice of Overcome by Happiness, the group's debut album. "And I'm not afraid to use the word `pop.' There's nothing shameful about it." Of course there isn't, but Overcome by Happiness is more than simply a pretty, mellow pop record. It's a bold, often dramatic revamping of Pernice's artistic sound and vision, a gigantic leap from his work with the Scud Mountain Boys, the Northampton, Massachusetts-based quartet who quietly carved out a unique place in the ever-growing pantheon of neo-country outfits such as Uncle Tupelo, the Bottle Rockets, Son Volt, and Wilco. But where the three albums recorded by the Scuds -- the 1995 Chunk-issued Pine Box and Dance the Night Away, now available on Sub Pop's reissue The Early Year; and Massachusetts, the group's '96 debut for Sub Pop -- were minimalist-country constructions presented with few frills and even fewer overdubs, Overcome by Happiness is a relatively lavish effort adorned with sweeping orchestrations, plaintive piano fills, and soaring horn work. The twelve songs, all Pernice originals, transcend the boundaries of alterna-country and span the stylistic gamut between his traditionalist work with the Scuds and the melancholic power-pop romanticism of the Raspberries, Big Star, and Runt-era Todd Rundgren. "It is definitely more of a pop album than a country or Americana record," admits Pernice, "but this is the record I wanted to make." That's why, in the summer of 1997, Pernice left the Scud Mountain Boys. "I think we went as far as we could go stylistically and it became very limiting," Pernice says of the split. "It was just time to move on. I'm not knocking that kind of traditional country music we were doing, but for me it was getting a little boring. I was thinking that a lot of the songs I was writing at the time [of the Scuds' breakup] were suited for things like strings and piano. Really, I just wanted to expand the sound a bit and try different instruments and to really indulge myself, which I couldn't do in the Scud Mountain Boys." After debuting the Pernice Brothers in January '97 with a Sub Pop single, Pernice gathered together his guitar-playing brother Bob and some friends from area bands (including New Radiant Storm King guitarist Peyton Pinkerton and, from the Lilys, bassist/producer Thom Monahan, drummer Aaron Sperske, and pianist/string arranger/producer Mike Deming) and headed to Hartford, Connecticut's Studio .45 to lay down tracks for Overcome by Happiness. A stylistic departure that bristles with a sense of discovery and liberation, Happiness moves gracefully from lilting pop gems such as "Crestfallen" to the lover's kiss-off "Clear Spot"; from the pulsating riff that propels the wistfully cynical title track to the gloriously beautiful "Wait to Stop," a string- laden weeper that is something of a throwback to the complex studio concoctions of Brian Wilson's best work with the Beach Boys. Overcome by Happiness, with its conspicuous lack of country leanings, is an astoundingly brave move for someone so critically adored by the y’alternative set. It’s both a gorgeous and lyrical album. Say hello to the Pernice Brothers.

Music Style Pretty pop, which some have likened to the Beach Boys with soul.

Musical Influences The Scud Mountain Boys, of course, with a smattering of Raspberries, Big Star, and Runt-era Todd Rundgren

Albums Overcome By Happiness---Sub Pop Records, 1998

Press Reviews The album was named in several 1998 year-end top ten lists, including The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly and Magnet.

Location Northampton, MA - USA

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