Under The Covers, Vol. 1
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Free Music Notes for Under The Covers, Vol. 1
Free Music Review: Below my expectations
Hit: 3 Stars
This is about half good, half not good. In general, the more obscure songs are better, while the famous songs are pale. (Although "The Kids are Alright" is great.) But I'm one of those people who believes that Beatles and Dylan songs should not be covered, because no one can do them justice.
I wish the duo had written some original songs instead of wallowing in the (yawn!) 60s. Also, avoid the liner notes, which are inane.
Free Music Review: A Great Listen
Hit: 5 Stars
Matthew Sweet is probably one of the most under rated singers of all time. This album of covers is one of the best cover albums I've heard. Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs do a set of great covers yet still are able to sound like Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs.
'I see the Rain' is excellent... 'And Your Bird can Sing' was very well covered ... 'Run to Me' and 'It's all Over Now, Baby Blue' round off the album as classic covers. The rest of the tracks (including Monday Monday, The Kids Are Alright, etc.. ) are pretty good as well... but not as good as the aforementioned tracks... would've given it a 4.5 stars due to the 'Warmth of the Sun' (it's pretty hard to cover Brian Wilson' and still sound original)
Free Music Review: Sweet is Sweet; This Bangle Knows Her Jangle!
Hit: 4 Stars
Susanna Hoffs (Susie) was responsible for one of the great retro power pop classics of the '80s (All Over the Place) with her band the Bangles. Matthew Sweet's (Sid) 1991 Girlfriend was one of the great retro power pop records of the '90s. Under the Covers seems to live at a delightful, timeless crossroads, triangulated somewhere between those two outstanding records and 1965.
Sweet and Hoffs first got together in Ming Tea, the fictional band from the first Austin Powers film. Here they team up as Sid and Susie for a set of covers that captures the essence of the sparkling, jangly, breezy 60s vibe that has long infused the best of each of their recordings.
Sweet is the musical force here, playing most of the guitar and bass parts as well as providing vocals; Hoffs shares vocal duties but does not play (she was out with the Bangles at the time). Some of Sweet's usual power pop suspects are on board; Ric Menck on drums, Ivan Julian and Greg Leitz on various stringed things, and-- thrillingly-- Richard Lloyd spices up several tracks on guitar, harkening back to the tension he created wit Robert Quine on Sweet's Girlfriend. (You haven't lived until you've heard Lloyd interpret Crazy Horse.)
The songs manage to sound fresh and yet faithful at the same time-- probably because both artists are steeped in these bands as influences, and both always evoke the best of the '60s in the studio and onstage. There are 2 Neil Young songs here; in the past Sweet has covered Young's "Don't Cry No Tears" and "Cortez the Killer." There is a Mamas & the Papas tune; I've seen the Bangles encore with "Creeque Alley." This stuff just oozes out of their pores.
The harmonies are prominent throughout, and both Sweet and Hoffs have voices that seem to live and vibrate at the same trebly, slightly nasal mid-range place. They seem to meld together naturally, like siblings, and at times it is difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins.
One very nice element of this record is that the songs all sound like the work of the same artist, without deviating from the original arrangements. Sweet and Hoffs largely resist the urge to, say, imitate the Who on one track, the Left Banke on another. The material, obviously, is all top notch, and neither artist has to compromise their pop sensibility one iota to infuse these tunes with warmth and grace. On "Monday Monday," for example, or "The Kids are Alright," you can hear how songs and bands like the ones represented here provided the musical DNA on which Sweet and Hoffs have built their careers. So when they sound like themselves, they can't help but be faithful to the material, because this is the material that has defined them.
I'm looking forward to Volume 2, and even better, to the tour.
Would sound good in the CD changer with: Sweet's Girlfriend; the Bangles All Over the Place; Wilson Phillips, California; Continental Drifters, Vermillion.
Free Music Review: Lightweight, but a lot of fun to listen to
Hit: 3 Stars
Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs both have covered semi-well-known 60's and 70's pop songs several times in their respective careers, so this effort shouldn't come as a surprise to their fans. But as another reviewer points out, because Sweet doesn't try to do anything creative with the songs' arrangements, "Under The Covers" is (by design) largely an inconsequential musical statement; these are interpretations which match the originals nearly note-by-note.
So, this lightweight-by-design album is mostly "hit", and just a little bit of "miss", with a couple performances falling flat. Example of 'flat': "Cinnamon Girl", a song definitely not meant for the kind of day-glo harmonies Sweet and Hoffs engage in. On the other hand, "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere", from the same Neil Young album which produced "Cinnamon Girl", does happen to turn out well, and ends up being an inspired selection. Even better: their choice of the Left Banke gem "She May Call You Up Tonight", practically tailor-made for Susanna Hoffs' brand of pop music -- it doesn't sound too far away from "Manic Monday", actually.
All the tunes here covered by Sweet and Hoffs are worthy of being made known to younger listeners, and a few, like Marmalade's "I See The Rain", are great songs that even a lot of older pop fans might not be familiar with.
Free Music Review: GREAT FUN!
Hit: 5 Stars
I heard this CD playing in a local music store and immediately
bought it. Susanna and Matthew have come up with a fun, light,
musically valid and entertaining album. It's an extremely
well-chosen batch of hits and obscurities from the mid-to-late
60's (and one from 1971). All the harmonies and attention to
melody that you've come to expect from each of them is present
here. They stick pretty close to the arrangements of the originals and
yet it comes out sounding very "them". Not
every song is a ten out of ten: "Warmth Of The Sun" and "Monday
Monday" really didn't need to be done again (although there is
nothing wrong with their versions). But the love that they both
share for this era of music is evident in their performances, as
well as in the liner notes. Is it an earth-shattering success
that will shake you to your very core? No. Is it one of the
best collections of covers I've heard in a very long time? Yes!
Listen to the sound clips and judge for yourself.