Search - Matthew Sweet :: Girlfriend (Spec) (Spkg)

Groovy Matt at his best

Jeff Snell | 06/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bought this as soon as i found out it existed. Newly remasted, with great liner notes. The second disk is a cool bunch of extras with some live tracks and some alternate versions. Very nice two disk package."

Power-pop nirvana

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 01/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The original release of Sweet's third album in 1991 laid down a power-pop gauntlet for the decade. His collection of fifteen songs (augmented here to 18 with the addition of tracks featured on various import issues) perfectly balanced his talents and influences in a way its predecessors and successors never managed. Gone were the '80s production excesses of his debut, in was the electric inferno of Robert Quine and Richard Lloyd's guitars. Gone were the fanboy sci-fi lyrics of the preceding "Earth" LP, in were words of love, betrayal and seething anger.



Sweet's singing is nearly spiritual in its sublime expressions of joy and heartbreak. It's the sort of palpable, heart-on-sleeve emotion that marks the best power pop, from The Beatles through Big Star, Dwight Twilley, Teenage Fanclub and others. Sweet's follow-up albums would give in to rock guitar excess, losing the focus and compactness that's allowed "Girlfriend" to retain its original power fifteen years on. Sweet, Lloyd and Velvet Crush drummer Ric Menck open the album with a crushing blow of rhythmic pop, highlighted by Lloyd's dazzling solo atop Sweet's riffing electric guitar and pounding bass. Sweet sings as a lost man, praying for a sign to point the way; the album then rewinds to reveal how he came to this desolate place.



"I've Been Waiting" captures the euphoric first flush of love with a chiming mix of electric and acoustic guitars. The noose is set in "Girlfriend" when Sweet realizes his needs, accompanied by Quine's muscular guitar and Sweet's multi-tracked harmonies. Love's brilliance is blinding in "Looking at the Sun" and belies an underlying fracture that grows into jealousy and neediness with the busy phone line of "Winona" (underlined by Greg Leisz heartbreaking pedal steel). The comic-book fantasy of "Evangeline" diverts the singer's attention only momentarily before the hammer falls. And when it falls, it falls hard. Very, very hard.



The dragging tempo and Lennon-like splats of rhythm guitar spell the beginning of the end on "Day for Night." The bitter "Thought I Knew You" provides Sweet the vehicle to release years of pent-up resentment, seething with the question "how can I describe the way you slowly put my hope away?" Leisz's pedal steel returns for the morning-after hangover wallow, "You Don't Love Me," which stings deeply with the self-medicating line, "you can't see how I matter in this world." The hurt persists in "I Wanted to Tell You," but the upbeat tempo and strident vocal find the anger seemingly dissipated. Robert Quine adds another terrific solo and the mix of acoustic guitar and overdubbed harmony vocals provide a hint of sunshine through the clouds.



Sweet's need to analyze what went wrong continues in "Don't Go," suggesting he hasn't fully moved on, and trying his ex-lover's patience. The lullaby "Your Sweet Voice" finds the singer finally at rest, but with "Does She Talk?" he's back on the prowl, possibly warning someone involved with his ex ("Gonna need you a key to open the door to her heart / Or are you afraid her body is missing that part?"). The original album closes on a somber, existential note, wondering whether there is anyone to actually hear the plea that opened the song cycle and smoothly segueing back to track 1.



Volcano's fifteenth anniversary 2-CD reissue of this title fleshes out the original in two dimensions. Disc one is augmented with a trio of songs ("Good Friend," "Superdeformed" and "Teenage Female") that had been attached to various import album and CD single issues. All are good, but almost superfluous given the strength of the original album. The real treat is disc two, which reissues the contemporaneous promo-only "Good Friend" CD. The thirteen tracks include acoustic demos, live versions and a pair of covers (Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer," with the Indigo Girls, and John Lennon's "Isoloation").



The demo of "Divine Intervention," stripped of the searing electric guitars of the album turns the song into a Richie Havens-styled plea, highlighted by the acoustic lead playing of Ivan Julian. The live acoustic rendition of "Thought I Knew You" is sung with a fresh sense-memory of the song's origin, and "You Don't Love Me" and "Winona," both shorn of Greg Leisz pedal steel, are more emotionally spent and less country than the album takes. The bonus disc's highlight is an early recording of "Someone to Pull the Trigger" with an end-of-the-rope vocal and ragged production that bests the finished version on Sweet's later "Altered Beast" CD.



The original album's production is flawless and clear, balancing Sweet's vocals perfectly against the onslaught of drums, bass and guitar. The bonus disc sounds like the variety of sources from which it was constructed, with tightly recorded acoustic demos back-to-back with live outings. Disc two serves as a commentary on the original artifact, exposing some roots and offering interpretations. For those who've memorized every nuance of the original LP, "Good Friend" shines a new light on a beloved friend.



In both its original single-CD issue or this expanded reissue, this is an essential for any fan of melodic rock and power-pop. It's a tour de force that Sweet never repeated at album length. [©2007 hyperbolium dot com]"