These Are Pop

by Michael Pelusi

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Published: Oct 4, 2006

With the opening, quasi-orchestral strains of "Automaton," it's clear that Joe Pernice's '80s phase is over. The fab Smiths/Cure hints of Yours, Mine & Ours (2003) all too quickly yielded the dead end of last year's Discover a Lovelier You; so on Live a Little Pernice and company (including ex-Bigger Lover Patrick Berkery on drums) move back to their initial sound — Elvis Costello by way of The Zombies — and not a moment too soon. Bringing back Michael Deming, co-producer and string arranger for their wonderful debut Overcome by Happiness (1998), proves to be a masterstroke. The album's warm, detailed sound brings out the best in Pernice's songs. Highlights include the get-the-hell-out-of-Dodge anthem "Somerville," "Zero Refills" (with a priceless image of female cubicle drones singing in unison) and "B.S. Johnson," a rousing anthem recounting the life of the late British experimental novelist. The album's closer, a remake of "Grudge Fuck," a song from Pernice's old band, the Scud Mountain Boys, is mostly superfluous, but given the preceding 11 tracks, he earns the indulgence. Specializing in sighing, bookish pop tunes isn't exactly the easiest row to hoe in this sleek age (unless you're Colin Meloy), but Live a Little serves as a reminder of just how well Pernice does the job.

Lap steel guitar, trumpet, bass and drums is not the most likely recipe for pop perfection, but this Newport, Ky., quartet happens onto something special on their debut. Thanks to the minimalist melodies and the vocal interplay of Carrie Reynard (lap steel) and Dan McCabe (trumpet), Campfire Crush most obviously sounds like a loungier Yo La Tengo or a less frosty Stereolab. But the band is no low-fi, mid-'90s throwback. The rhythms — courtesy of bassist Jane Lane and drummer Eric Cope — are full-bodied and groove-friendly, and the electronic touches and treatments add a sense of space. (Reynard and Lane are alumni of the departed Kentucky outfit Radiolaria.) And while McCabe's smoky croon is something of an acquired taste, it melds perfectly with Reynard's airy alto on their duets. Thanks to the stellar group interplay, the "ba-ba-ba" choruses that close songs like "Deep Blue" and "The Horseman" aren't cutesy and coy, but celestial and joyous. Available through CDBaby.com, Lunar Moss deserves to be heard.

Legacy's reissue campaign has finally gotten around to the ELO's crowning achievement. Clearly, in 1976, Jeff Lynne's frizzy head was positively buzzing with more melodies than most songwriters come up with their whole lives. Each of A New World Record's nine songs — not just the big hits, "Livin' Thing," "Do Ya" and "Telephone Line" — bursts with monster hooks and big-budget arrangements, as Lynne had at his disposal orchestras, choirs and as many gadgets and toys as Robert Moog could throw his way. His modus operandi at this point is best described as Beethoven-Beatles-Chuck Berry-Berry Gordy; crucially, he remembered the ambition and playfulness of those forefathers. From the Birmingham soul of "Tightrope" to the space-bound melancholy of "Shangri-La," the album has barely a bum note. (True, many purists feel the best version of "Do Ya" came during Lynne's tenure in The Move.) The bonus tracks, mostly alternate mixes, are nice but inessential. No matter; if this album doesn't at least vaunt Lynne past Todd Rundgren and Lindsey Buckingham on your list of '70s pop auteurs with funny haircuts, there is nothing else I can do for you.

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