Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs

Under the Covers Vol. 1 (Shout! Factory)

On the heels of their musical collaboration in the Austin Powers film series, Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs spin off the delightful Under the Covers Vol. 1. The 15 songs, all covers, bubble with effervescent charm and are so exuberantly performed that it’s hard finding fault with the fact that it’s not that exciting a recording. Sweet and Hoffs each spring from bouncy, hip indie-pop careers; he with the crystalline early-Nineties ringer “Girlfriend” and she with flirty Eighties chart queens the Bangles. Together, they’ve handpicked a bouquet of hits that bloomed vibrantly in the Sixties, and that’s the beauty of Covers. Hoffs’ sweet vibrato and Sweet’s gorgeous guitar make the sing-along factor impossible to resist on classic AM radio staples by the Mamas & the Papas (“Monday, Monday”) and the Stone Poneys (“Different Drum”), but then there’s Love (“Alone Again Or”) and the Velvet Underground (“Sunday Morning”) to tune into too. In a way, this CD is a throwback to when record companies routinely had their artists record hits of the day. Don’t expect envelope-pushing, just let the sweet rain of Sweet and Hoffs’ sincerity wash life’s troubles away. (Saturday, March 18, 10pm @ the Drink)

**.5

This article appears in March 17 • 2006.

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