Matthew Sweet
Blue Sky On Mars
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Matthew Sweet
Blue Sky On Mars
Zoo, 1997
RiYL: Lemonheads, Jellyfish, John Strohm, Squeeze |
Sweet brought a great transition to '80s synthesizer-pop when he oriented his music toward guitars on 1992's Girlfriend. Subsequently, he continued to refine his style of jangly guitar pop with multiple-harmonic vocals, and he consistently sold records without the benefit of many formidable radio singles.
Mars shows Sweet reaching a new level of maturity in songwriting. He is comfortable in his style, but creative enough not to bore his listeners. It's evident he realizes the type of music he plays is inherently prone to repetition, and he tries to vary structure and sound enough to keep pop lovers interested.
"Into Your Drug" starts with a slightly distorted mellotron keeping the beat and is one of many songs with electronic augmentation on the album. Sweet also uses a Theremin -- a strange old computer-sized machine that creates varying high-pitched tones -- on two of Mars's tunes.
The other thing that can be said for Sweet (and his tendency to change things up in his formula-driven genre) is his albums seem to be rooted in concepts. All of the art for Mars concerns our planet's neighbor. Viking spacecraft photos taken on Mars bedeck the cover and back, while all the pictures of Sweet show him wearing a spacesuit complete with transparent helmet.
Blue Sky On Mars yielded a single or two, but critics are no longer looking for a "breakthrough album" from Sweet. With this album, he reached a point in his career where his position in pop music is established, and this is evident in the seasoned attitude he brings to his songs.
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.