When an artist releases three albums in one year you might suspect a certain quality quantity imbalance but Joe Pernice from Massachusetts is shaping up as the exception to the rule. Big Tobacco is his second release of 2000; there'll be another before too long but for now we can enjoy another sterling collection of his gentle, melodic reflections on love and loss. The Pernice fanclub is snowballing and it's easy to see why, his work has the ring of truth which marks him out from the crowd.