Send In The Tanks – the Bloopers!
You know when you are practicing something and you mess up a lot of times before you get it right? Well, if you really need a lesson in humility, I recommend hitting record on a camera while you are practicing so you can capture your mistakes for eternity. Thanks to this outtake video I just posted, I am the humblest man ever:
I think it turned out kind of amusing.
In the Earbuds: Matthew Sweet, Tomorrow Forever
Matthew Sweet is one of those rock artists whose work from a bygone era (the 90s in Sweet’s case) is burned in my mind, although they have been steadily releasing music unknown to me. Sweet is known for his hit radio songs “Girlfriend”, “Sick of my Myself”, and he is still very much here with his 12th album, Tomorrow Forever. It’s terrific.
There are some hard rockers (Pretty Please), some slow ballads (Haunted), and plenty of feel-good guitar pop songs (Trick, Music for Love). I love the bluesy, surfy beat to “the Searcher”. The beat throbs under a mildly sung verse until the chorus kicks in with Matthew yelling in your face “You still can’t see!”
Matthew Sweet’s strong suits are stronger than ever here:
- His ability to write catchy, but tasteful, fresh melodies.
- His penchant for hiring astounding lead guitarists to noodle all the way through his songs – Jason Victor and John Moreman compete for who can melt more faces.
- He may be among the best background vocalists out there. That is, he always knows exactly when to place a nice “Oooo” or “Ahhh” to compliment the song, and the small army of overdubbed Matthews in the background just couldn’t sound any more harmonious.
The album is sure to delight Matthew Sweet fans, and even those new to him who just enjoy well-written songs that feel good going down. More background on the album can be found here.
The Show
I had the privilege of seeing Matthew Sweet and band at the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis recently on the Tomorrow Forever tour, and came away completely fulfilled. There were slain-by-the-Spirit guitar solos from Jason Victor, Paul Chastain was solid on bass, and Ric Menck just pounded the drums into drum powder (he’s been playing with Sweet since the “Girlfriend” album in 1991!). Matthew sounded strong on vocals and rhythm guitar, and ably performed all the hits as well as a healthy dose of the new songs: Trick, Pretty Please (maybe my favorite from the new album), Music for Love, the Searcher. I’m sad they didn’t do “Entangled,” among the strongest of his new songs, but I guess they couldn’t play forever.
I’ve been so excited about Matthew Sweet lately, that he has made his debut on my Spotify playlist, “Give Me Liberty and Give Me Rock.” Give it a listen.
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