Whoever came up with the idea of pairing pop-rock maestro Matthew
Sweet and Bangles angel Susanna Hoffs should get some kind of
congressional recognition or the American version of knighting. The
twosome got together three years ago for the first installment of
Under the Covers, where they revisited some of the seminal songs
from their teen years, recast with a contemporary shimmer and obvious
affection and reverence. It offered a balance of recognizable hits
(Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl”) and obsessive fan obscurities (the
Zombies’ “Care of Cell #44”), refracted through Sweet and Hoffs’
brilliant pop prism. For the second volume, the pair stick to more
recognizable songs but with an equally impressive range that finds them
visiting the acid-washed country of the Grateful Dead’s “Sugar
Magnolia,” the pop magnificence of the Raspberries’ “Go All the Way,”
the slinky melancholy of Derek and the Dominoes’ “Bell Bottom Blues,”
the bitter condemnation of John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth,” and the
soaring pop genius of Todd Rundgren’s “Hello It’s Me” and “Couldn’t I
Just Tell You.” As with Vol. 1, Sweet and Hoffs amplify the pop
aspects of songs that were pop in the first place (Fleetwood Mac’s
“Second Hand News,” Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain”) and inject a tart
pop edge where it might not be expected. — Brian
Baker
This article appears in Jul 22-28, 2009.
