Obvious Daily Music Review: Sunshine Lies by Matthew Sweet

I love Matthew Sweet. His music has meant a lot to me over the years and I think he has contributed greatly to the power pop genre. A few years ago I got the chance to meet him and we talked for a while. He’s a real person, a serious music fan and a great guy. That’s why I debated even writing this review. His brand new release Sunshine Lies is a huge disappointment, and that’s putting it lightly. “Time Machine,” the opening track is, dare I say, a jumbled mess. It almost sounds like 2 songs being played over the top of one another. Matthew’s normally magnificent vocals sound downright awful, especially on the 2nd track, “Room to Rock.” This record perplexes me. Every thing sounds raw and rushed, from the sloppy guitar to the songwriting. The lack of great hooks or quirky melodies is shocking, considering previous Matthew Sweet albums have been awash in them. Matthew’s bluesy guitar licks are cool in a few places, but the songs they are a part of are so disjointed that it makes them hard to listen to. Most of it is raw and loose with a real Neal Young and Crazy Horse vibe to the music, production and vocals, but the song writing is not there and who wants to hear Matthew doing a Neil Young imitation? However, there are a couple of good songs here for the Matthew Sweet fans to latch on to, including the beautiful pop of “Feel Fear” with it’s great melody and classic Sweet vocal delivery, and the 60’s drenched pop of the title track, “Sunshine.”
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For More Info: http://www.matthewsweet.com/
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Comments

[Andre Salles]

You are kidding me, muchacho! How many times did you listen to this?