Palo Alto Pop Overthrow

You simply can't find a better baroque pop lyricist than Joe Pernice. Throughout his musical career, first in The Scud Mountain Boys, then in Chappaquiddick Skyline, and finally through his work with brother Bob as The Pernice Brothers, Joe has consistently penned some of the saddest, yet most poignant lyrics known to yours truly.

The song "Somerville," off of the 2006 Pernice Brothers album "Live a Little," takes listeners down through a backstory of bitterness and regret of a man who isn't happy with his current surroundings. "Give me back the rags, [and] the neurotic" he sings, about the thought of returning to Somerville, the little neighborhood of his lament.

The City of Somerville, Massachusetts--or "Scummerville Slummerville" as its residents affectionately refer to it--is the black sheep of the metro Boston area. Boston is, well, Boston, while Cambridge has the prestige afforded to the city of residence for both Harvard and MIT. Somerville has none of these aspects.

I'm gonna take a lover / gonna take her back to Somerville / don't care if she's pretty when we leave Suck City.

Label: Ashmont Records
RIYL: Eric Matthews, The Bigger Lovers, The Belles

The best part is, you can download the song "Somerville" directly from the Pernice Brothers' web site here.

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