Power pop guru Matthew Sweet hits the road after 14th studio album
JACKSON, Miss. — Back in the early '90s when grunge was king and flannel was cool, Matthew Sweet blasted out of radio speakers and into the Top 10 with Girlfriend, a walloping chunk of guitar fuzz ear candy from his 1991 album of the same name.
Although that wasn't Sweet's first record, it was the one that pronounced him the king of jangly guitar power pop.
It's been more than a quarter century since then and Sweet just released his 14th studio album last month, Tomorrow Forever. The new one was funded by Sweet's fans via Kickstarter.
Sweet, a multi-instrumentalist who has worshiped Todd Rundgren and Lindsey Buckingham since his teen years, has been writing, recording and touring since his 1991 commercial breakthrough.
Sweet’s latest tour kicked off May 15 at the City Vineyard at Pier 26 in New York City and goes through Sept. 15 with a final stop in South Orange, N.J.
After a show in Jackson, Miss., on Tuesday, Sweet and his band play two nights in Atlanta on Wednesday and Thursday at the City Winery and then he moves on to the City Winery in Nashville on Friday.
5 things to know about Matthew Sweet
1. Sweet recorded three cover albums, each titled Under the Covers, with The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs. The first volume covered songs from the 1960s, the second featured tunes from the 1970s and the third highlighted songs from the 1980s. The second volume — featuring covers of Yes, Bread and Todd Rundgren — is the best of the trio.
2. Sweet, ever the Fleetwood Mac fan, got Richard Dashut to produce his 1993 record, Altered Beast. Dashut is best known for co-producing Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, Tusk and Mirage. Drummer Mick Fleetwood even makes an appearance on the album.
3. Both Debbie Peterson of The Bangles and The Zombies' founder/keyboardist, Rod Argent, play on Sweet's newest release.
4. Sweet and his wife moved from their longtime Hollywood Hills home to Nebraska in 2014. Sweet grew up in Lincoln, Neb. The couple bought an 80-year-old house spacious enough to house a home recording studio, dubbed Black Squirrel Submarine.
5. Although it's not on his '70s covers album, Sweet recorded Walter Egan's 1978 yacht rock classic Magnet and Steel in 1998. The song appeared on a soundtrack for Sabrina The Teenage Witch. It's his sweetest cover.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/...our/510775001/