TOMORROW ON THE MORNING JOLT: POWER POP

I'm sorry that I missed being on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick last week, I had a family emergency.  I'm back this week, and I'll be talking about some new power pop records.

First off is Matthew Sweet's new album Modern Art. Matthew's Girlfriend, Altered Beast and 100% Fun are among my favorite albums, but I haven't enjoyed many of his albums since then.  I think he has to work with other artists: I enjoyed his album as a member of The Thorns and his collaborative albums with Susanna Hoffs.  Modern Art is fine, but none of it really sticks with me.

Speaking of Ms. Hoffs, Matthew Sweet worked on the new Bangles album, Sweetheart Of The Sun. I've listened to it a bit, I think it's a solid album.  It's not as good as Different Light or Everything, but it's good.  I do think that The Bangles could still put out a classic. I wish that former bassist Michael Steele would rejoin the band: even though she wasn't a founding member, they feel off-balence to me without her.  I know they would love her to return.  I don't think she quit the band so much as she quit the country during the reign of bu$h 2.  Come back Michael!

Adam Schlesinger has been busy lately: his main band, Fountains of Wayne returned with Sky Full Of Holes, their first album in four years, and the follow-up to their very underrated Traffic and Weather. "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart" is a great single, but I don't know if it's as good as songs like "Stacy's Mom" or "Radiation Vibe." Adam's other band, Ivy, has just released it's first album in six years, All Hours.  They are more of an electronic band, not so much "power pop," but because Adam is in the band, it has a very classic pop sensibility.  One thing that took some of Adam's time in the past few years is his other band, Tinted Windows. That group, which features Taylor Hanson of Hanson on vocals, James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle on guitar, and Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick on drums, sounds just like... Cheap Trick.  They're great. Their 2009 self-titled debut is super underrated.

We'll also talk about the former members of Oasis: Noel and Liam Gallagher both have their own projects.

MATTHEW SWEET - "MODERN ART" (WELL TITLED)

Matthew Sweet's new album Modern Art is, as I mention above, well titled.  It doesn't hit you immediately.  I wonder if it is a reaction to his two recent albums with Susanna Hoffs: 2006's Under The Covers Vol. 1 (covers of '60s classics) and 2009's Under The Covers Vol. 2 (the '70s). Those albums were packed with instantly recognizable songs filled with hooks.  Modern Art, on the other hand, is a bit more, well, abstract.

Matthew plays most of the instruments, with long time drummer Ric Menck accompanying him, and Dennis Taylor on lead guitar (he was a guitar tech for The Bangles: Matthew helped them on their latest album, Sweetheart Of The Sun).  It's kind of like the set up he used to record Girlfriend, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.  On his current tour, he is playing that entire album, and I guess the problem is, next to that album, I know I wouldn't want to hear too many songs from Modern Art. Still I'm a loyal fan of Matthew's, his music has meant the world to me over the years, and I'll give this one a few more listens.  

LUCINDA WILLIAMS - "BLESSED"

A good friend of mine, who is a big Lucinda Williams fan, was worried about her new album, Blessed. "She writes so well about broken relationships," my friend said.  Now that's she's (hopefully) happily married, will she be as good as she was?

I pointed out that "Passionate Kisses" is one of her classic songs, and it seems to deal with being in a relationship that has lasted a while.  Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, her greatest album (and the one against all of her others will always be measured, at least in my mind) has a lot more than just breakup/heartbreak songs. I'm always optimistic anyway.

But it was like Lucinda heard my friend, because the opening track/first single, "Buttercup," is a kiss off to an ex-. But Lu is in a different place right now, and it takes courage to try and write about being happy. I think that's where she got the album title, Blessed. I love the artwork int he album - there's a series of people, who look like they are of varying economic circumstances, holding a sign that says "blessed." (You can see video testimonials by regular people who talk about what it means to be "blessed" at Lucinda's YouTube page.)

Like most of Lucinda's recent albums, there's definitely some weepers, but also some flat out rockers.  I totally dig "Seeing Black" (fair enough, another breakup song... by the way, both this song and "Buttercup" feature Elvis Costello on electric guitar). The soul of the album lies with the title track, where Lucinda sees the beauty in everyday life. I don't think she could have written this one 15 years ago. It comes right after "Soldier's Song," which compares a soldier's day with that of his wife and child back home.

Another great song is "Kiss Like Your Kiss," which Lu originally recorded with Elvis Costello for True Blood. Here, it is a solo version.

Don Was produced this album, and I think he did a great job. He's done some cool Outlaw Country type albums over the years, working with Willie Nelson and Elizabeth Cook, and he really stays out of the way here and lets Lu make another really solid album. Well done!

Interesting to see that for the second album in a row, Matthew Sweet sings backing vocals.  Lu, bring him out on the road!

As I mentioned, all of Lucinda's albums (at least to me) will be compared to Car Wheels. I don't think that Blessed is as good as that album, but it is really good and I'd be psyched to hear most of these songs in concert.

P.S. I'll also mention that the "deluxe" version of this album is worth getting: it features a second disc with Lucinda doing solo acoustic versions of all the songs, recorded live at her kitchen table!

GIRLFRIEND: THE MUSICAL

I don't know much about theater, but the Berkeley Repertory Theatre seems pretty hip. They've adapted Green Day's classic American Idiot into a stage musical, and that's gotten a good amount of attention. But they've also adapted Matthew Sweet's (also) classic Girlfriend. Find out more here.

MATTHEW SWEET TO PRODUCE THE BANGLES

A couple of years ago, VH1 Classic sent me to LA to interview

the ladies from The Bangles, and Susanna Hoffs mentioned to me that she was doing an album of covers with Matthew Sweet. The Bangles have been without a bassist since Michael Steele left the band (actually, I think she left the country when bush was re-elected). I thought, Matthew Sweet would be a great addition to the band - either as a bass player or a producer. Well, it looks like he is going to be doing both on their upcoming album. Matthew and Susanna are doing the second Sid and Susie album which comes out this month, and in the fall, he's going into the studio with the Bangles to produce their next album.

THE RETURN OF SID AND SUSIE

Sid and Susie is the alias for the duo of Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs. In 2006, they released Under The Covers Vol. 1, an album of covers of '60s songs by The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, The Zombies, The Who and Neil Young, among others. Next month, they are releasing Under The Covers Vol. 2 which will take them into the '70s with songs by The Grateful Dead, Mott The Hoople, Carly Simon, Fleetwood Mac, Derek & The Dominoes, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, John Lennon and George Harrison, among others. 

THIS WEEK ON OUTQ: MATTHEW SWEET, JOAN OSBORNE, THE VERVE AND JULIANA HATFIELD

I'm excited to be returning to the OutQ In The Morning Show With Larry Flick after two weeks off - first for Larry/Cynthia/Keith's vacation, and then for mine. This week, I want to talk about a few artists who were big for a while in the '90s, and then, for whatever reason, the media got tired of talking about them.

First off is Matthew Sweet, one of my favorite singer/songwriters. In the past few years, he has released a duets album with Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles (Under The Covers Vol. 1), released an album with a one-off group The Thorns (which also included solo artists Pete Droge and Shawn Mullins) and quietly released two solo albums, Kimi Ga Suki and Living Things. His new album is Sunshine Lies: I've downloaded the title track, which I like but don't yet love. (I pre-ordered the album, and it hasn't come in the mail yet!) Matthew's '90s albums Girlfriend, Altered Beast and 100% Fun are three of my favorite albums, but I don't think his albums since then have been quite as solid.

I've loved Joan Osborne since the first moment I heard "St. Teresa," the lead track from her Relish album. It took her a long time to follow it up, and by then, the world had moved on. The press were already calling her a one-hit wonder. But the follow-up, Righteous Love, was a really good album. After that she did a covers album called How Sweet It Is which was wonderful but unsurprisingly ignored. Since then she's done a sort of country-ish album Pretty Little Stranger which had lots of great songs, another soul music album Breakfast in Bed, and now she's released Little Wild One. I don't like this one as much as her recent albums yet, but I'm only starting to listen to it.

I saw The Verve on their reunion tour earlier this year, and was knocked out by how great they were. I like their new single "Love Is Noise" from their reunion album Forth, and I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the album.

I got really into Juliana Hatfield in the '90s when she released Become What You Are. But I didn't like the followup, and kind of lost track of her since then. But I heard her new song, "This Lonely Love," and really like it.

Actually the two things that I like best that are new this week are by B.B. King and Motorhead, but I'll have to write about them later on.