Matthew Sweet
b. c.1964, Nebraska, USA. After working with the Golden Palominos in the late '80s, Sweet rapidly found himself thrust into the spotlight with his third album, 1991's GIRLFRIEND, a tour de force of power pop flavoured with a captivating lyrical slant manifested by the singer/guitarist's highly personal narratives. The collection saw him accompanied by New York luminaries including Material drummer Fred Maher, Robert Quine (ex-Lou Reed and Richard Hell And The Voidoids) and Richard Lloyd (ex-Television), plus the UK's Lloyd Cole. The mature rock sound visited therein quickly saw rave critical comparisons to Neil Young and Big Star, despite the shoestring recording budget. It evolved at a troubled time for Sweet, coinciding with his divorce and the loss of most of his musical equipment and records through a boiler flood. Also dropped by his record company (his two previous albums had been released on Columbia and A&M Records respectively), Sweet was about to take employment at a ‘Toys R Us’ children's store before he found a new label who accepted his unreleased third album. GIRLFRIEND quickly went on to sell over half a million copies in the US. One of the most notable tracks, Does She Talk?, was a tribute to porn Channel 23, but this was only one strand of a powerful armoury of moods and highly affecting, plangent guitar work. SON OF remixed arguably the best track from the lauded follow-up album, ALTERED BEAST, Devil With The Green Eyes, and added five unavailable live tracks recorded in October 1993 and January 1994, with Lloyd and Quine guesting. For 100% FUN Sweet was joined once more by Quine and Lloyd, with Velvet Crush drummer Rick Menck and kd Lang associate Greg Leisz on pedal steel and mandolin, with Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam, Bob Dylan, Soundgarden) producing. Bearing in mind his popularity in the Far East, it was accompanied by a 20 page ‘manga’ comic (the most popular cultural phenomenon of Japan in the '90s), starring Sweet. The touring band for 1995 added Tony Marsico (bass) and Stuart Johnson (drums).