Overcome by Happiness

Entire strains of pop music exist to explore the tension between gorgeous melody and depressing lyrics. Short-story writer Joe Pernice proved himself an obsessive master of this micro-genre on this, the Pernice Brothers\'s 1998 debut. The music is smart, slightly decadent pop abetted by subtle, Van Dyke Parks-ish orchestral arrangements. But this is really music for folks who obsess over lyrics: \"It\'s hard to read a simple mind\" and \"Your colored eye and a lipstick voice and a cough you could never shake\" are just two examples of Pernice\'s wordplay here. The Pernice Brothers\'s follow-up album, 2001\'s *The World Won\'t End*, has its champions, but *Overcome by Happiness* is the best album from this talented band.

From the crystal melodies of "Crestfallen," "Monkey Suit," and "Wait to Stop" and the slower, somber, greenhouse-gorgeous "Overcome by Happiness" and "Chicken Wire," this shy man has made a near-perfect modern songsmith swoon album.