Matthew Sweet Albums (12)
'Under the Covers, Vol. 2'
Release Date 7/21/2009
Tracks 16
Label Shout Factory
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
A sequel to Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs' 2007 stroll through the '60s was perhaps inevitable, at least as inevitable as the decision to devote Under the Covers, Vol. 2 to the super sounds of the '70s. Sweet and Hoffs tend to pick '70s songs that are a bit more familiar than their '60s selections, never digging out a Me Decade equivalent of Marmalade's "I See the Rain" or the Zombies' "Care of Cell #44," but instead punctuating AM pop hits and FM rock staples like "Sugar Magnolia," "Second Hand News," "All the Young Dudes," "You're So Vain," "I've Seen All Good People," and "Maggie May" with power pop by the Raspberries ("Go All the Way"), Big Star ("Back of a Car"), and Todd Rundgren, who has no less than two songs from Something/Anything? featured here. The influence of that 1972 double LP can be heard in the similarly homespun production of Under the Covers, Vol. 2 but where Rundgren was open-ended, Sweet neatly ties up every loose end with the care of a pop fetishist, making sure all the harmonies and guitar licks are in place, never adding any untasteful elements. Sometimes, everything is a little bit too pat and pretty -- particularly on "Sugar Magnolia," whose processed guitars sparkle too brightly -- but the duo's enduring, endearing love for this music is evident, sometimes infectious, and, at its best, throws out some surprises, like Susanna's soulful reading of "Maggie May." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
For somebody who played a large role in reviving guitar-driven power pop in the '90s, Matthew Sweet spent a good chunk of the new millennium avoiding the six-string. Apart from 2003's Japanese love letter Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu, Sweet walked on the soft side in the years since 1997's Blue Sky on Mars, crafting psychedelic song cycles, Beach Boys tributes, and an album of sweet duets with Susanna Hoffs. Sunshine Lies returns the guitar to the center, pushing the playing of Greg Leisz, Ivan Julian, Richard Lloyd, and Sweet to the front and relying on arrangements that feel lean even when they're each graced with subtle flourishes of layered, overdubbed harmonies, Mellotrons, and backward tapes. Although the album's punch is a shade too pristine and precise, lacking the gangly ragged heart of Girlfriend, this is easily Sweet's liveliest record since the '90s, giving his sweet, sighing harmonies a candied warmth and his rockers some real bite. That slight snarl is evident throughout Sunshine Lies, even on the mellow moments, as Sweet's writing is tight and purposeful throughout, with individual songs standing as tight, bright little gems; yet they all fit together to form a larger picture as if they were part of a tapestry -- or more accurately a spider web, as Sweet peppers this album with all manners of nature, from the "Sunshine Lies" to the "Sunrise Eyes." Sweet also flies with "Byrdgirl" here, and that song title is a good indication of how deeply steeped in the '60s this album is, as it deftly balances chiming guitars indebted to both Roger McGuinn and George Harrison with harmonies from the Hollies and hooks from London and Los Angeles. There may be plenty of allusions to classic guitar pop, but Sunshine Lies plays as more reverential than referential, as Sweet never succumbs to pastiche but rather revives the feeling of the '60s, from sun-bleached folk-rock to swirling, sighing psychedelia. Again, this isn't all too far removed from other new millennium Sweet albums like Living Things, but the crisp, unadorned production -- courtesy of Matthew himself, who recorded and mixed this in his home studio -- keeps the focus on his brilliant pop hooks, which shine brighter and cleaner here than they have in quite some time. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Under the Covers, Vol. 1'
Release Date 4/18/2006
Tracks 15
Label Shout! Factory
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs have always displayed an unapologetic love of '60s pop in their own music, and they even teamed up as part of the pop supergroup Ming Tea to record the terrific "BBC" for the first Austin Powers film, so the duo's 2006 album, Under the Covers, Vol. 1, feels logical and right. With this record, the two -- who have adopted the name "Sid N Susie," although this only appears on the inside of the CD's booklet and on their MySpace page -- tackle 15 classic pop and folk-rock tunes from the '60s (well, the Bee Gees' "Run to Me" is from 1971, but its heart is in the '60s). Their selections, a mix of familiar oldies and beloved cult classics, display exceptionally good taste: it's a mix of the Beatles ("And Your Bird Can Sing"), Bob Dylan ("It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"), the Beach Boys ("The Warmth of the Sun"), the Who ("The Kids Are Alright"), the Mamas & the Papas ("Monday, Monday"), and Neil Young ("Cinnamon Girl," "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere"), plus Love ("Alone Again Or"), the Zombies ("Care of Cell #44"), the Velvet Underground ("Sunday Morning"), Fairport Convention ("Who Knows Where the Time Goes?"), the Stone Poneys ("Different Drum"), the Left Banke ("She May Call You Up Tonight"), and the Marmalade ("I See the Rain"). Not a bad song in the bunch, and the band -- a rotating lineup largely comprised of Sweet mainstays including drummer Ric Menck and guitarist Greg Leisz, plus guitarist Richard Lloyd and keyboardist Van Dyke Parks, both appear on a couple of tracks a piece -- relish playing songs that they clearly love, since they never reinterpret the songs, or even play around with the arrangements. The affection that Sweet, Hoffs and company display for this music is the reason to hear this record: they're having such a good time playing their favorite songs, it's hard not to smile along as well. And if that doesn't make for a major record, it certainly makes for a likeable one. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Released in September 2004, Living Things is Matthew Sweet's first official new album since 1999's In Reverse. Prior to it, he had released Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu the prior year, intending it as a Japanese-only release, but it proved popular among both fans and critics, so it was released in the States in tandem with Living Things, but the two records couldn't be more different. Where Kimi Ga Suki is an updated spin on the straightforward, guitar-heavy Girlfriend, the closest relative to Living Things in Sweet's catalog is the lush, layered In Reverse, but where that record was brimming with premillennium tension, this is warm, relaxed, and sunny. So sunny, in fact, that it could reasonably be called Sweet's version of a Beach Boys album, a sentiment that's strengthened by the near-omnipresence of Brian Wilson's occasional co-writer Van Dyke Parks on the album. He plays keyboards, organs, and accordion on all but one track here, giving the album a sun-kissed psychedelic flair, occasionally reminiscent of the Beach Boys' post-Pet Sounds albums, but lacking the infuriating twee preciousness of recent excursions of such Brian Wilson-influenced '90s indie groups as the High Llamas. Sweet doesn't change his songwriting style for Living Things. He grafts this summertime psychedelia onto his typically satisfying power pop, occasionally opening the tunes up into trippy interludes, such as the coda to "Sunlight." Since Sweet's songs still are instantly identifiable as Matthew Sweet tunes and since the album gets stranger and better as it progresses, Living Things is not quite as great a departure as it reads, nor is it as immediately likeable as Kimi, but it is nevertheless one of his most consistent and accomplished albums, sounding better with each repeated play. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu'
Release Date 4/22/2003
Tracks 13
Label Cutting Edge
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Being "Big in Japan" has been a pop music in-joke for years, but few artists have paid as direct a tribute to the country as Matthew Sweet does with his 2003 album, Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu. Released only in Japan, the album is, as Sweet puts in his brief liner notes, dedicated "in gratitude for the many years of love and support you've sent my way." This is no collection of leftovers and B-sides: it is a collection of 12 brand-new songs, written and recorded specifically for this album, with all composition and tracking occurring over one week in January 2002. This makes it unusual in several different ways. First, few artists record an album intended for a specific territory, especially an artist with a cult following as large as Sweet's. Second, Sweet's last two albums -- 1997's Blue Sky on Mars and 1999's In Reverse -- were both overthought (the first to its detriment, the second to its benefit), so it's good to hear him throw out the demoing stage and cut it while it's hot. Third, this record is an unofficial reunion of the Girlfriend-era lineup, featuring Velvet Crush drummer Ric Menck, guitarist Richard Lloyd, and guitarist Greg Leisz, which is something Sweet fans have been waiting nearly a decade to hear. While this is by no means the equal of Girlfriend -- which, after all, was a special record born from a special set of circumstances -- it's still an excellent modern guitar pop album, filled with great hooks and harmonies and irresistible ringing six-strings. What makes it work so well is the constrictions Sweet placed upon himself; by forcing himself to write and record the record in a compressed timespan, he had to rely on his purest skills, letting his music breathe naturally. This doesn't mean that the production is bare-bones, because it's layered with sweet harmonies and guitars, but it does mean that it flows easily and organically, feeling livelier than anything he's done in a decade. That feel, combined with a strong set of songs -- songs that are tight, concise, and never overthought, even when they veer into psychedelia or slow down for a ballad -- make this one of his snappiest, sharpest albums. Its craft becomes more apparent after each spin, yet it retains its fresh feel, which is a difficult thing to pull off. There are no plans for a U.S. release of Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu, which is too bad in one sense, since this is Sweet at his best, but it's likely he never would have made a record quite this good if he didn't follow his Japan-only guidelines. As such, it's something that fans will have to see -- they'll be very, very glad they did. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Ever since Girlfriend, Matthew Sweet made tightly wound guitar pop, but In Reverse takes a different approach, borrowing elements from Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, the Beatles, and Electric Light Orchestra to create a seductive ocean of sound. Vocals, guitars, and pianos are given cavernous reverb, surrounded by grand percussion, backward guitars, and brass. Unlike many of his '90s pop peers, Sweet isn't aping Pet Sounds and Magical Mystery Tour just to prove that he can -- this rich music is a personal interpretation of lush chamber pop and psychedelia, giving a musical counterpart for lovely melancholy songs of heartbreak and disillusion. In Reverse is a song cycle, with songs segueing into one another and playing off each other's themes, each blessed with glorious touches of neo-psychedelia and baroque pop. There's a unity of sound and song which makes In Reverse play like a concept album and, like any good concept album, it ends with a grandiose gesture -- a nine-minute suite called "Thunderstorm" which fuses the Beach Boys, Neil Young, and Sweet himself in unpredictable, thrilling ways. In that one song, all of the themes and pretensions of the album brilliantly come together, and that's the most remarkable thing about In Reverse -- it fulfills its ambitions while delivering the emotional impact of Girlfriend. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Clocking in at 45 minutes, Matthew Sweet's third record of guitar-dominated, hook-laden power pop runs through its 12 songs at a classic speed, piling up songs that lovingly conform to the three-minute pop tradition. Richard Lloyd's gnarled guitars save Sweet's melodies and harmonies from being saccharine or sappy. Behind Sweet's bright hooks lies something darker -- the self-loathing of "Sick of Myself" and the mental manipulation of "We're the Same" aren't evident from the sound of the record, which obliterates any hidden meanings with its chiming guitars and driving rhythms. It might not have the consistent barrage of great songs like Girlfriend, yet it tames the wilder impulses of Altered Beast into an album that rocks its worries away without ever getting rid of them. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Compared to the concise songwriting of Girlfriend, Altered Beast is all over the place, both emotionally and musically. Ranging from piercing guitar rave-ups ("Dinosaur Act") to gorgeous country-rock ("Time Capsule"), the album not only covers all sides of Matthew Sweet's musical personality, but pastes them together haphazardly. Consequently, it takes a bit of time for all of it to make sense, but after a few listens, it falls together, and its best moments equal Girlfriend. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Matthew Sweet's third album is a remarkable artistic breakthrough. Grounded in the guitar pop of the Beatles, Big Star, Byrds, R.E.M., and Neil Young, Girlfriend melds all of Sweet's influences into one majestic, wrenching sound that encompasses both the gentle country-rock of "Winona" and the winding guitars of the title track and "Divine Intervention." Sweet's music might have recognizable roots, but Girlfriend never sounds derivative; thanks to his exceptional songwriting, the album is a fresh, original interpretation of a classic sound. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
