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- Date Released: October 22, 1991
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Rock
- Label: Volcano
- Copyright: (P) 1991 Volcno Entertainment II, LLC
A latter-day landmark of power pop and askew guitar
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We Say...
"I don't know where I'm gonna live/I don't know if I'll find a place," Matthew Sweet begins this latter-day landmark of power pop and askew guitar. Sweet had a right to wonder: after a stint in the legendary Athens, GA, twee-poppers Oh-OK, he'd issued two solo flops and barely seemed to be anywhere. Then his girlfriend dumped him. So Sweet got mad — and began writing the album of his career. Girlfriend is about relationships alone, and while Sweet isn't saying anything particularly new about them here, his reedy, anxious voice and the sparkling, tangled six-string work from ex-Voidoid Robert Quine and ex-Television man Richard Lloyd — joining pedal steel player Greg Leisz, fellow singer-songwriter and rhythm man Lloyd Cole, and Sweet himself — say everything we need to understand about the tangled matters at hand.
Time has made it easier to hear what makes Girlfriend so utterly of the early-CD era: an opener with a false ending ("Divine Intervention," one of the most attention-grabbing opening guitar riffs of any rock album), fake needle skips at the end of "Evangeline" (the cassette version stretched them across about 12 minutes at the end of side one), 60 minutes where 50 or 40 would have done the job even better. But any album with stuff as joyous as the disarmingly intimate "I've Been Waiting" ("Secret on your lips/That nobody knows/Gentle in your eyes/You can wear my clothes") or "Evangeline" (a power pop man writes an ode to an anime girl — too perfect), or the genuinely pained "Thought I Knew You," transcends its era through sheer velocity. -
They Say...
Matthew Sweet's third album is a remarkable artistic breakthrough. Grounded in the guitar pop of the Beatles, Big Star, Byrds, R.E.M., and Neil Young, Girlfriend melds all of Sweet's influences into one majestic, wrenching sound that encompasses both the gentle country-rock of "Winona" and the winding guitars of the title track and "Divine Intervention." Sweet's music might have recognizable roots, but Girlfriend never sounds derivative; thanks to his exceptional songwriting, the album is a fresh, original interpretation of a classic sound.
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| 01. |  |
Divine Intervention |
5:37 |
|
| 02. | |
I've Been Waiting |
3:36 |
|
| 03. | |
Girlfriend |
3:40 |
|
| 04. | |
Looking At The Sun |
4:16 |
|
| 05. | |
Winona |
4:59 |
|
| 06. | |
Evangeline |
4:45 |
|
| 07. | |
Day For Night |
2:55 |
|
| 08. | |
Thought I Knew You |
2:57 |
|
| 09. | |
You Don't Love Me |
5:21 |
|
| 10. | |
I Wanted To Tell You |
4:30 |
|
| 11. | |
Don't Go |
3:24 |
|
| 12. | |
Your Sweet Voice |
3:54 |
|
| 13. | |
Does She Talk? |
3:27 |
|
| 14. | |
Holy War |
3:25 |
|
| 15. | |
Nothing Lasts |
3:33 |
|
15 Total Tracks, 60:19 Total Length
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Credits
- Lloyd Cole - Guitar // Lloyd Cole - Guitar (Electric) // Lloyd Cole - Guitar (Rhythm) // Lloyd Cole - Tremolo // Robert Quine - Guitar // Robert Quine - Guitar (Electric) // Robert Quine - Guitar (Rhythm) // Matthew Sweet - Guitar (Acoustic) // Matthew Sweet - Bass // Matthew Sweet - Guitar // Matthew Sweet - Piano // Matthew Sweet - Guitar (Electric) // Matthew Sweet - Guitar (Rhythm) // Matthew Sweet - Vocals // Matthew Sweet - Producer // Matthew Sweet - Main Performer // Richard Lloyd - Guitar (Electric) // Greg Leisz - Pedal Steel // Greg Leisz - Guitar (Steel) // Bob Ludwig - Mastering // Fred Maher - Guitar (Acoustic) // Fred Maher - Drums // Fred Maher - Guitar (Rhythm) // Fred Maher - Producer // Ric Menck - Drums // Jim Rondinelli - Engineer // Jim Rondinelli - Mixing // Scott Hull - Editing // Scott Hull - Assembly // Michael Lavine - Photography // Dana Vlcek - Assistant Engineer // Dana Vlcek - Mixing Assistant // Dana Vlcek - Assistant // John Parthum - Assistant Engineer // John Parthum - Mixing Assistant // John Parthum - Assistant // Dorrie Cheng - Design // Lee Hammond - Art Direction // Emily Morrison - Project Assistant // Johnny Six - Vocals
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