100% Fun Tour May 8, 1995 (29 years ago) The Vogue Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
It's not too rough or saccharine, just all Sweet MARC D. ALLAN Indianapolis Star 07 May 1995 Matthew Sweet
Opening acts: Menthol, Poster Children. Where: The Vogue, 6259 N. College Ave. When: 8 p.m. Monday. Tickets: $13 in advance, $14 day of show; (317) 259-7029.
Touring to support what should be his breakthrough disc, 100% Fun, pop-rocker Matthew Sweet found himself performing in Oklahoma City a week after the April 19 bombing destroyed that city's federal building.
He turned the show into a benefit.
"We felt like we might as well do what little we could to help out," says Sweet, who plays the Vogue on Monday.
"You just don't get a sense (from watching TV) of how terrible the devastation is in the whole downtown area. It's not just that building. The windows are out of buildings blocks and blocks away. Foundations collapsed. It's like a war zone all over."
Sweet says he found that night's audience appreciative, but he couldn't help feeling uncomfortable.
"Once I was onstage and said a few things, I found myself not knowing what to say. I didn't feel like I could kid around too much and I didn't want to be heavy and ramble about the topic of tragedy. So I found myself tongue- tied.
"Then, every song I'd be singing, I'd be thinking, `Oh, man, this lyric has some sort of sick connotation in combination with what had happened.' Everything was like `digging a hole' or `being ripped out of the ground' - all these different lyrics. I found myself a little preoccupied."
Lyric speaker
When Sweet uses phrases like those, of course, he's talking about emotional terrorism. For three consecutive albums, he's written songs that are both gloriously melodic while also being somewhat dark lyrically.
Sweet's current hit, Sick of Myself, is a perfect example of what he does best - a foot-tapping melody with bubble-gum underpinnings, enough rough-edged guitar to keep things from getting too saccharine and a lyric that's an emotional tug of war.
He sings: "There's something in your eyes that is keeping my hope alive/but I'm sick of myself when I look at you."
Sweet's been tinkering with that sound since 1991's Girlfriend, which has sold slightly more than 500,000 copies. On Altered Beast (1993) and last year's seven-song Son of A. Beast, he added a rougher, Neil Young-style edge. Altered Beast sold 300,000 copies.
With 100% Fun, Sweet more or less split the difference in styles.
"I was writing songs I thought were really melodic and had a lot of harmonies and things in them. I felt like I would run with that and make a really direct pop record."
On 100% Fun, Sweet also derives the benefit of having Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Bob Dylan) as producer and musician.
"Even right before I went into the studio, I felt really nervous about it, like maybe I was making a terrible mistake and he was totally the wrong kind of guy because he hadn't done a lot of stuff that was like me," Sweet says. "Once I got into the studio with him and saw him in action, I realized he's one of those people who has a real gift for sound. For him, it's effortless."
Like he does with everyone, O'Brien helped Sweet make a record that sounds terrific.
"He gets great sound," Sweet agrees. "He made a Neil Young record recently with some of the guys from Pearl Jam backing him up. He said Neil was going crazy, just rocking out on some of it, and he said it just jumps out of the speakers. With Brendan saying it jumps out of the speakers, I'm really curious to hear that. It must be really wild."
Copyright 1995 - Indianapolis Star - All Rights Reverved
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