Matthew Sweet Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu 2003

Matthew Sweet has had an up-and-down career, and along the way he's produced some of the best hard power-pop ever recorded. His magnum opus was his third, the gorgeous Girlfriend in 1991. But he's come darn close to equaling that classic several times, and this one is one of them.

The CD was released in Japan in 2003 as a gift to his Japanese fans, and wasn't released in the US for another 18 months or so. Sweet wrote the songs quickly, and recorded them with Ric Menck, Greg Leisz and Richard Lloyd, the core group that produced Girlfriend. Sweet's pop-rock confections really benefit greatly from Richard Lloyd's scronky guitar sound.

The songs themselves are unusually strong, and the bash-it-out home production allows them to show their strengths without over-embellishment. The stronger songs include Dead Smile (the smashing opener), Morning Song (a perfect rock ballad), The Ocean In Between (a lovely melody thrashed out with abandon, and a great Lloyd guitar lead, indispensable), I Don't Want To Know (another quick-paced ballad), and the hard-rocking Hear This. The record almost never lets up. Even the few ballads include big, loud, crunchy guitars. Sweet comes up with some of his best melodies and catchy choruses, and the band rocks hard.

Not everything he's done has been equally successful as Girlfriend, but at least he hasn't rehashed the same formula over and over. Then again, this is that same formula, and the result is stellar.

Perfect (or near perfect)

It's not very often that a record is perfect. What's perfect? You can listen to every song, and enjoy every song. The performance, songwriting, singing and production make a cohesive whole, a record that is of itself and unlike quite anything else (except maybe one of the other records on this list). There aren't too many of these for me, and many of them are from the sixties and seventies. I tried to stay a little more current with this list.

Many of these records are rockers. This first list is the rockers. Fast and furious, hot guitars, tight band, great songs. Often the best effort by the artist or band, these are the only reason the rest of their work is a little disappointing.

The Proclaimers Persevere 2001

Matthew Sweet Girlfriend 1991

Semisonic The Great Divide 1996

John Mellencamp Whenever We Wanted 1991

Sloan Between The Bridges 1999

The BoDeans Home 1999

Tom Caufield Long Distance Calling 1987

The Connells Still Life 1998

Gomez Split The Difference 2004

John Hiatt Bring The Family 1987

Del Amitri Some Other Sucker's Parade 1997




The rest of these are less rockers and more something else; blues, country, folk, mellower rock, and in one case too eclectic to be any one of those categories. But they are no less perfect, with every track a winner.

Dwight Yoakam This Time 1993

Boz Scaggs Come On Home 1997

Lucinda Williams Car Wheels On A Gravel Road 1998

Erin McKeown We Will Become Like Birds 2005

5 Chinese Brothers Let's Kill Saturday Night 1997

Freedy Johnson This Perfect World 1994

The Jayhawks Hollywood Town Hall 1992

Al Kooper Black Coffee 2005

Shelby Lynne I Am Shelby Lynne 1998

Kirsty MacColl Titanic Days 1993

Matthew Sweet Girlfriend 1991

I've mentioned this classic before, and it truly deserves the descriptor. Produced with an in-your-face sound by Fred Maher, covered completely with the loud, edgy guitar of Robert Quine, and filled with the stellar efforts of a songwriter coming into his own in a very big way.

If you haven't heard it, you should. You owe it to yourself. Sweet's high whine might detract a few listeners, and Quine's guitar can be too loud for some, but hey, do you like rock 'n' roll or not? It's the farthest pop-rock record from a Bread album you can find on the planet. And that can only be good.

Divine Intervention, I've Been Waiting, Girlfriend, and Looking At The Sun form a high-energy foursome that kicks the record off in fine style. Then it's Sweet's love paean to Ms. Ryder, Winona, with Greg Liesz's pedal steel creating a beautiful country ballad. Evangeline, Day For Night, and I Thought I Knew You continue the barrage of perfect rockers. You Don't Love Me is a sweet ballad, and I Wanted To Tell You is pure jangle-pop glory. Don't Go and Does She Talk rock like crazy, and most of the rest is pretty darn good, too. Hard-rockin' power-pop does not get any better.

Sweet has made some other darn fine records, 1995's 100% Fun is very good, and his relatively more recent Kama Ga Suki from 2003 and 2004's Living Things are both solid outings that rival Girlfriend, at least half the songs anyway, and as such are easy to recommend. I'm listening to Sick Of Myself from 100% Fun right now. It's great.

Girlfriend has it all. A stone classic. Crank it up, very loud. Friday is almost here now.