THE Pernice Brothers are not one of rock's more equal partnerships.

Joe Pernice writes all the songs, sings them, takes the band on tour, produces the albums, runs the record label, paints the cover art and keeps the web site up-to-date.

In between times, he's written a book about The Smiths, published a collection of poetry, developed a revolutionary tailfin assembly for Apache helicopters and brokered a peace deal in Sudan.

And all his slacker sibling Bob does is play the occasional bit of guitar.

Formed after the 1997 break-up of lauded singer/songwriter Joe Pernice's alt-country group the Scud Mountain Boys, the Pernice Brothers did an about-face from the lush 1970s country sound of their final album, Massachusetts, and came up with the lush orchestrated pop of 1998's Overcome By Happiness.

Recorded for Sub Pop, the album featured Joe's brother Bob (the lone hold-over from the Scuds), guitarist Peyton Pinkerton from the New Radiant Storm Kings, bass player/producer Thom Monahan, drummer Aaron Sperske and pianist/producer Mike Deming. The album was a 12-song revelation to fans of smart and arranged modern pop music.

There were almost no traces of country left in Pernice's sound - instead influences like Brian Wilson, the Left Banke and Todd Rundgren seemed to be his main inspiration.

Following the release of its debut album, the band went into a self-imposed hiatus as Joe Pernice released a record in early 2000 on Sub Pop under the name Chappaquiddick Skyline.

The record featured personnel made up of the Pernice Brothers' touring band: bass player Monahan, guitarist Pinkerton, new keyboard player Laura Stein and drummer Mike Belitsky.

The record was more sparse and downcast-sounding than the Pernice Brothers' debut.

Both that record and Pernice's solo record from late 2000, Big Tobacco, (which also featured Monahan, Pinkerton, and Stein) were, according to Pernice, made up of songs he considered not good enough to be released under the Pernice Brothers banner.

He finally came up with enough songs he deemed worthy of release by the band, and in 2001 the less orchestrated but still wonderful World Won't End was released to a ringing chorus of justified critical praise.

The album featured the core band of both Pernice brothers, Pinkerton, Monahan, Stein, and Belitsky, and was released on Ashmont Records, a label that Pernice and business partner Joyce Linehan formed after Pernice parted ways somewhat acrimoniously with Sub Pop and found no other label that he wanted to sign with.

The band set off on a worldwide tour and returned to the studio in 2002 to craft their next release.

Released in 2003, Yours, Mine & Ours had a less lush and arranged sound than the previous two records but showed no signs of artistic decline, as it was a strong batch of smart pop tunes by one of the finest bands anywhere in the early 2000s.

Joe Pernice followed by recording their fifth album in Brooklyn, Massachusetts, Toronto and Los Angeles. Titled Discover a Lovelier You, the album was released in June of 2005 on Ashmont Records.

And their latest slice of genius, Live A Little is out soon on One Little Indian.

For more information visit www.pernicebrothers.com.