Smiths' Meat Is Murder

"The story never reaches a true resolution, but that's part of the pleasure of it Pernice takes pains to capture a teenage voice, although the language refrains from self-pity the dramatic uncertainty of the language holds together the narrative." The Columbia Spectator "However autobiographical this story might be, it's never predictable or less than heartfelt. The narrator's classmates are sketched fondly, his teachers with a little healthy malice and the music with great affection." Newsday "An essential purchase for any fan of good new rock-write in general - a slim, confessional novella equal to anything written by Nick Hornby. " Bandoppler Magazine "It is beautifully written." The Times (London) "Continuum knew what they were doing when they asked songwriter Joe Pernice to pay homage to the Smith's Meat is Murder." Austin American-Statesman "Fans of Pernice's lyrical work in the Pernice Brothers and Scud Mountain Boys will find the same qualities of his lyrical wordplay used here, equal parts bitter and sweet Pernice excels at evoking the feeling that almost any listener of underground music first has when encountering it, of stumbling onto a vein of something previously unknown, but far more immediate than anything that's come before." -Tobias Carroll, Earlash, 01/21/04 " Pernice writes about the album the only way a true teenager would-clumsily, overflowing with enthusiasm and praise, and beautifully the novella is a wonderfully brief, swift read that nevertheless is as powerful as the greatest of EPs." -Andrew Unterberger, Stylus magazine, 1/1/3/04