Matthew Sweet
In Reverse
On Sale Now
For $13.28

My ears are still ringing. And I was wearing ear plugs.

Matthew Sweet's recent set at the 9:30 Club included an unhealthy but fun dose of feedback to go with his catchy pop songs, squealing guitar rock and Phil Spector Wall of Sound approximations.

Sweet and his band kicked off their two hour show with the first three tracks from his latest record In Reverse including "Millennium Blues" with guitarist Paul Chastain on trumpet.

Some initial sound problems with the vocal mics seemed to have been sorted out by the fourth song, a noisy, somewhat hurried take on "Divine Inspiration" from Sweet's classic 1991 album Girlfriend. But it was a pretty version of "Time Capsule" from 1993's Altered Beast that allowed Sweet his first opportunity to shine as a vocalist. It was the first song on which Sweet didn't seem to be rushing or over-singing. Even better was a nicely-vocalized take on the In Reverse ballad "Hide" with Sweet on piano.

Lead guitarist Pete Phillips turned in one of several extended, alternately wailing and squealing guitar solos on a version of the yearning Girlfriend ballad "You Don't Love Me." Not quite as talented as frequent Sweet collaborators Richard Lloyd (ex-Television) and Robert Quine (ex-Voidoids), Phillips nevertheless held his own on selections from the Sweet catalogue. The three guitar lineup (including Sweet) gave the band a big sound but also prompted frequent guitar changes which threatened to stall their momentum several times.

Velvet Crush member Ric Menck was excellent behind the drum kit as the band roared through muscular and energetic versions of Sweet's hits "Girlfriend" and "Sick of Myself" as well as a terrific take on the sunny glam-rocker "Come to California" from 1997's under-performing Blue Sky On Mars.

But Sweet seems to be a guy who feels most at home in the studio, crafting his perfect pop songs and multi-tracking harmony vocal parts. About an hour into the show, he told the crowd "We're getting through the set. Not too far from the end now." As it turned out, Sweet wasn't in that much of a hurry to get offstage though (they played for another hour or so) and he even appeared to be having fun later on a nicely harmonized "I Should Never Have Let You Know" from In Reverse.

The audience called the band back for two encores which were highlighted by the psychedelic "Into Your Drug" and the crowd favorite riff-fest "Evangeline." The band also performed In Reverse's ten minute epic "Thunderstorm" (complete with sound effects) which is actually three or four of the best pop songs Sweet has ever written strung together in a mini-suite.

Openers Tender Idols are a band from Atlanta with an English lead singer who looks a bit like Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes. Perhaps predictably, their music owed a debt to both recent Brit-pop (Oasis and Radiohead in particular) and classic Southern rock. The band nicely mixed up their more rocking and softer sides. But one part of their show really bugged me. I think it's time to have an agreement among bands not to use a bullhorn onstage. It was bad when Michael Stipe did it. Now it's just old.

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