MATTHEW SWEET

Modern Art
Missing Piece [09/27/2011]

Few other artists rank as high on the power pop plateau as Matthew Sweet. His lengthy resume may have something to do with it – after all, he’s been plying his talents for the better part of the past 30 years. But tenure alone isn’t cause to put a performer on a pedestal, and Sweet’s stature was elevated early on with the critical kudos reaped by crucial albums like Girlfriend, Altered Beast and 100% Fun.

His fortunes have ebbed and flowed ever since, thanks in no small time part to the game of musical chairs that’s been his series of record company affiliations, but to his credit, he’s never bowed to commercial considerations. Consequently, his new album, Modern Art, is often abstract in its execution, thanks in large part to the psychedelic sheen that inundates this effort. Sweet’s sound obsession with the Byrds remains intact, with the hushed harmonies that waft through “Oh, Oldendaze,” “She Walks the Night” and “Baltimore” recalling the iconic Fifth Dimension and Notorious Byrds Brothers albums in particular. That shouldn’t be surprising to anyone familiar with Sweet’s trajectory since the very beginning, but the odder offerings – “Ivory Tower,” with its angry entreaties (“Come down, come down from you Ivory Tower…”), the rocking “Ladyfingers” and the ever-shifting “Late Nights with the Power Pop” – reflect a raucous side as well.

Whether or not Modern Art will reap the same critical acclaim as his earlier masterpieces remains to be seen. However, it remains a formidable representation of Sweet’s more sublime sentiments.
--Lee Zimmerman

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