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Matthew Sweet proves that there's life on Mars  afterall

Four albums after his 1991 breakthrough, Girlfriend, Matthew Sweet is some kind of pop genius. Seriously, even today's best pop songwriters (Paul Westerberg, David Lowery and Elvis Costello, to name three) don't match his buoyancy or his sense of urgency, and his knack for turning out melodies that sound both distinctive and familiar is pretty much unmatched. He's managed to maintain one of the most consistent and sustained careers around, and while some albums are better than others, each has something worth listening to.

What's interesting about his new album, Blue Sky on Mars, isn't the way it upholds the pop tradition established on his past records, but the way it twists it. Sweet's never been a straight-up bubblegum popster: from the bleak acceptance of Girlfriend's "Nothing Lasts" to the bitter melancholy of 1995's 100% Fun, there's always been a streak of dark realism to his records, so the relatively despondent subject matter of Blue Sky hardly comes as a surprise.

What is new, though, is how sinister the new record sounds, and how creepy the whole thing is. The trademark Sweet pop sensibilities are all intact, but Blue Sky on Mars manages to get under your skin in a way that previous records didn't. While 100% Fun's power pop anthem "Sick of Myself" declared "I'm sick of myself when I look at you/Something so beautiful and true," the new (and equally terrific) "Back to You" announces "I'll tell you anything but what is true."

Whether it's the spacey, eerie "Hollow" or the raucous but disconcerting "Over It," ("You're over it/You're not angry anymore/...No big deal unless you make it one"), Blue Sky on Mars presents more subtle and accomplished songwriting than Sweet's displayed in the past, and represents a departure from the likable, in-love-with-love persona displayed on his previous albums. There's another level to the songs here, and while it's somewhat off-putting, it makes for a compelling record that's worth multiple listenings.

If the lyrics are darker than before, though, Blue Sky on Mars sounds as good as anything Sweet's ever done. "Back to You" is classic Matthew Sweet, catchy without being cloying; it sounds like a million songs you'd swear you've heard before but can't quite put your finger on. "Where You Get Love" starts off taut and edgy, but then busts wide open with a shimmering pop chorus. The grinding opener "Come to California" sounds vaguely reminiscent of Girlfriend's "Divine Intervention," but drives harder. Sweet plays pretty much all of the guitar on the album, and the absence of Robert Quine and Richard Lloyd, who both lent odd, discordant leads to Sweet's previous albums, is a welcome change of pace.

In a way, Blue Sky on Mars may be too accomplished for its own good. It's an album that gets better with each listening, and while it doesn't jump out of the speakers the way 100% Fun did, there's more than enough to keep you coming back for more. Blue Sky on Mars is probably Sweet's most mature (and definitely his most consistent) album to date, and maybe his best - though that's hardly a distinction worth making. It's a terrific record, as catchy and disturbing as the best post-punk music.

With Blue Sky on Mars, Matthew Sweet's got five solid albums of great pop music to his name; in this era of faceless "electronica" and one-hit-wonder alternabands, who else can make such a claim?

- Stefan Betz Bloom

Oberlin

Copyright © 1997, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 125, Number 24; May 9, 1997

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