Originally published at: Matthew Sweet's album "Girlfriend" celebrates 32 years of "fuzzy power pop perfection" | Boing Boing
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I love this album so much. It came out when I was fairly young, but it was one of the first albums I owned that wasn’t a soundtrack or TV characters-based album. It didn’t hurt that two of the music videos for the album used anime footage, though. But the songs are what really matter. “Girlfriend” was my absolute favorite of the entire album for a time. Now I think “Thought I Knew You” is the one to get people to hear.
And if you enjoy Girlfriend, please try 100% Fun afterward. That album is peak Sweet.
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What a blast from the past. I remember listening to this album on repeat over and over when it came out. I haven’t thought of it in decades, I’m definitely gonna relisten.
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Ok, I’m going to have to fire this up on Spotify. I, too, played the crap out of this CD back in the 90s, but I haven’t listened to it in forever.
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Will take a listen. Never heard of this.
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Ok, I had forgotten the first track completely. It’s a little…overly focused on God. I wasn’t yet an atheist in 1991.
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This is gonna sound fake, but I was actually wondering what became of Matthew Sweet on Sunday night. 
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I think you’re talking about a different Mathew Sweet…
I just read his Inventing the Victorians – I cannot recommend it entirely, some of the chapters are interesting, but it did seem to be based on rose-tinted spectacles and becomes a bit repetitive in hammering that point home.
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He is excellent on ‘Free Thinking’ on BBC Radio 3
Saw him do a great show (to a disappointingly small audience) in college. Because I am tragically old.
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Maybe just well-aged!
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Picked up this wonderful little cat at the merch table when Sweet was touring with Susanna Hoffs as “Sid and Susie” some years ago. Dunno if he’s still making pottery (the Etsy storefront is gone), but as a fan of his it was neat to get a piece handcrafted by him.
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Man, I had this album when it came out. I think I was around 20 at the time. Girlfriend was on volume 11 with the windows down!
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I was annoyed with “Divine Intervention” when I was younger and an atheist (I consider myself more of a deist now). Stepping back and really paying attention to the lyrics, it sounds to me like a questioning of faith and if there is a god, well, maybe he doesn’t love us.
The song still holds strong today. I annoy the kids with it in the car. Song on 11, I’m at a 12.
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My wife and I did the first dance at our wedding to “I’ve Been Waiting”
A few years back, she also directed (and I played guitar in) the jukebox musical of “Girlfriend,” which is a genuine delight. It’s called “Girlfriend,” but it’s about two closeted high school boys in Nebraska who use the songs from the album to sort of talk around their love for one another.
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I love 100% fun too!!! sick of myself is probably my favorite sweet song!!
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it’s so so so good!
Always wanted to do that one in karaoke - it was my introduction to Sweet!
