Matthew Sweet

Though Matthew Sweet paid his dues in the same ’80s Athens college-rock scene that birthed R.E.M., he found his true calling at the dawn of the ’90s by retrofitting the jangly sound of power pop for the amped-up age of grunge. Born in 1964 in Lincoln, NB, Sweet was already gigging in local New Wave bands as a teen, before moving to Georgia for college and becoming a scene fixture playing in the Michael Stipe side project Community Trolls, Oh-Ok, and The Buzz of Delight. The latter act’s regional success earned Sweet a major-label solo deal, yielding two slickly produced releases (1986’s Inside and 1989’s Earth) that failed to connect with the masses. However, with his 1991 commercial breakthrough, Girlfriend, Sweet found his bubble-grunge sweet spot, fusing pristine Beatles-esque melodies with gritty psychedelic guitars provided by Television’s Richard Lloyd and The Voidoids’ Robert Quine. The equally spirited successors Altered Beast, 100% Fun, and Blue Sky On Mars further entrenched Sweet’s status as alt-rock’s most reliable melody maker. Since then, Sweet has complemented his steady solo output with fun diversions like Ming Tea (a.k.a. the house band of the Austin Powers franchise) and his Under the Covers series with fellow jangle master Susanna Hoffs.