There's nothing pernicious about this new Joe Pernice song. "I'd Rather Look Away," from the veteran singer-songwriter and Pernice Brother/Scud Mountain Boy's new solo studio album Sunny, I Was Wrong, pairs him with Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub. That's a dream pairing for a certain Type Of Guy, and Pernice and Blake deliver with a dreamy, easygoing folk-rock rambler that sounds like Tom Petty at his gentlest.
Pernice chimes in:
This song was not on my list to make the record. It was among the 20 or 30 songs I sent my old friend Warren Zanes and when I told him it was not on my list, he said, and I quote, "Joey, Joey, Joey, are you nuts?" Okay, okay. To quote Robert Evans, "The kid stays in the picture." Pete Mancini plays all of the beautiful electric guitar tracks on the song. His parts and cues are spot on. And I knew I had to have my old friend Norman Blake add a vocal harmony arrangement, and he generously obliged. Norman is, among other notable things, the best harmony vocal arranger/singer I’ve ever met. It’s part of his natural way.
Those Mancini licks really do hit the spot. Listen below.
Sunny, I Was Wrong is out 4/3 on New West. Pre-order it here.
