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Pernice's sixth studio album under the Brothers moniker is a palate cleanser that's more satisfying than most bands' main courses.
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The eclecticism is jarring--especially on an album that's only 32 minutes long--but the songs are frequently superb
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Pernice rarely does things in half-measures, and accordingly, the songs here glow with quiet inspiration.
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This music sometimes feels spontaneous and casual, but the craft of Joe Pernice's songwriting remains as literate and melodically absorbing as anyone working in indie pop today, and Goodbye, Killer confirms he and his collaborators haven't lost their touch, and have even gained a bit or edgy nerve along the way.
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A compelling mixture of pop and alt-country, this veneer suggests Tom Petty without the anthemic hubris or Buck Owens without the hokier honky-tonk.
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The only thing Goodbye, Killer suffers from is a slight lack in variety and a somewhat poor album pacing. But there are the pop rock songs and there are the alternative folk country songs, and they're all done to perfection.
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With such stylistic diversity, and with Pernice's word-smithing as intricate and brilliant as ever (even if occasionally coming across as too clever by half), the Pernice Brothers have once again delivered some of the most intelligent and irresistibly hooky pop music around.
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These pop songs all work well--the melodies are tight, the playing energetic, the lyrics both smart and emotive. In short, it's another solid Pernice Brothers record.
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Like his book, which settled on a downcast but hopeful note, Goodbye, Killer succeeds not because Joe Pernice is a real-life loser, but because the man knows how to tap into the moments where we all feel like losers--the broken half-smiles and the stare-at-your-shoe embarrassments--when redemption seems a bit too far of a reach, and you just want to convince another human that you aren't bullshitting them.