Pernice Brothers delightfully dull

Winsome, wishful, witless. It always seems that the poets who compare love to nature are straining to capture some sort of profound redundancy, something that makes them seem wise and outer-worldly. Is man afraid to admit that he has created anything beautiful? The beauties of awkwardness and bashful mistakes are lost on the Pernice Brothers, who stretch for pleasing pop melodies mildly drifting amongst lyrics of romanticism that are so universal they're vaguely forgettable. The charm of "her eyes as kind as the morning rain" or some bullshit line like that lost its glimmer a very long time ago. With Yours, Mine and Ours, the heartbroken dreaming of the Brothers leads the formerly alt-country musicians (lead singer, Joe Pernice, is formerly of the Scud Mountain Boys) to pop diversions with mediocre success. As they say, it's "so familiar that it feels so strange." Finely-crafted, nicely produced, these guys could use some spice in their lives and music. While trying to spin themselves toward a heavenly escape, the Brothers will leave you reaching for something more attainable, like the beauty of a well-kept city sidewalk, split toward the end by a misplaced crack.