Under the Covers Volume 2

Artist:  Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs
Title:  Under the Covers Vol. 2 [Deluxe Edition]
Label:  Shout! Factory

Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs are back with this sequel to their 2006 album Under the Covers Volume 1.  Matthew Sweet has a long career as a pop-alternative artist and is probably best known for a couple of Anime filled music videos from his breakthrough album Girlfriend.  Susanna Hoffs was a member of the 80′s group the Bangles.  Both of them worked together on the soundtrack for ‘Austin Powers‘ as part of the band Ming Tea.  Under the Covers Volume 1 was a light, fun album that covered a diverse mix of music from the 60′s.  On the new album the have moved forward a decade to cover their favorite hits from the 70′s, again covering a diverse mix of artists and styles.

Volume 1 was a favorite of mine when it was released and I’ve been hungry for more ever since.  Does Volume 2 live up to its predecessor or does it fall into the dreaded sophomore slump?

My review after the break.

This album works well on all levels.  Susanna Hoffs has a wonderful voice.  It does well when she’s primary vocalist and in harmony with Matthew Sweet’s.  Matthew Sweet also shines as primary vocalist on many of the tracks as well.  The song selections ride the line between well known(‘You’re So Vain‘, ‘Maggie May‘) and some lesser known (‘Marquee Moon‘, ‘Beware of Darkness‘).  The music is faithful to the originals.  Many of the songs are recognizable immediately and vary little from the originals in structure, but Sweet and Hoffs manage to make each song their own.  All of the technical elements are there and in place.

All in all I should love this album. . .but I don’t.

The hallmark of a good album for me, technical proficiency aside, is playability.  An artist can put their heart and soul into an album, play every note right, sing every word in the correct pitch, and at the end of the day it can still be unplayable.  It’s a subjective qualifier to be sure, but it’s what makes us play the same CD over and over and over again until we find the next CD that clicks with us.  This album doesn’t have that playability factor for me.  I can’t listen to it straight through once, let alone multiple times.  And that’s a shame because it is a good album in all other aspects.   Having said that, this album lends itself to a good mix list.  There are a lot of good covers on it and they work really well in small doses.

I picked up the deluxe edition that contains a second disc with ten more songs on it, mostly later 70′s new wave and punk.  Again the extra songs are well played and there are some gems in there, but overall it doesn’t work for me.  Perhaps it is too much to ingest or perhaps it is the inclusion of songs I don’t know well.  Either way I’m glad I got the album, but it doesn’t fuel the same excitement that Volume 1 did.

I give it a 3 out of 5 stars.