MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: MATTHEW SWEET & SUSANNA HOFFS - UNDER THE COVERS VOL. 3

Sweet and Hoffs return in their alter-egos of Sid n' Susie, in their ongoing series of pop covers.  While the previous two have covered the 60's and 70's, this one is dedicated to 80's new wave and college rock tracks.  That means it's straight out of my record collection, made up of music geek tunes from back in the day when you were defined by your playlist.  I'm pretty sure most of these ended up on my Walkman mix tapes.

As usual, the duo do a bang-up job, with pretty faithful recreations.  Much of the fun is just how close they come to sounding like the originals, without being perfect.  Lindsey Buckingham's quirky solo hit Trouble is a great example, where they do his breathy vocals, each singer somehow managing to sound like the original.  Sometimes they just come close, like on REM's Sitting Still, but mirror the music to great effect.  And when they choose a cut that can't be mimicked, like The Smith's How Soon Is Now, then they just prove what talented performers they are.

Mostly, its a laugh, and why not?  I can't think of a reason to not hear the Dave Edmunds/Elvis Costello number Girls Talk, The Pretenders' Kid, or Save It For Later by the English Beat any old time.  And the inclusion of XTC's Tower Of London?  Geez guys, wish I was friends with you first time around for these songs, I wouldn't have felt like such a geek.