digitally, and on CD or vinyl, via Omnivore Recordings Album cover art courtesy of Omnivore Recordings 'Catspaw,' the 15th studio album from Nebraska power pop artist Matthew Sweet, is now available. So it’s been a really happy occurrence to have it be coming out and be doing interviews for it. Then, knowing that the album was actually going to come out and see the light of day this month just kept me going kind of hopewise a little bit, since my actual way I normally make a living, which is through live shows, was entirely ground to a halt. The bright spots for me were hooking up with Omnivore Recordings, who I’d always wanted to do something with, and working on the artwork with them - which is always one of the most fun parts of the process for me. And I really spent most of my year consuming tons of media - lots of movies and shows and streaming all kinds of things. So many people got creative during the pandemic - whereas I was coming off that creative spree. For me, that felt like it was kind of eerie how well it fit with what we’ve all gone through. So, in a way, it’s my nature to be a little more of a homebody.īut it is almost like Catspaw sort of weirdly predicted or fit with the time of the pandemic. MATTHEW SWEET: I think it’s partly that I’m a kind of isolated person. What impact did that sort of isolation have on this project as you started guiding it forward? But you very literally handled nearly every element of it in your home studio, from recording to instrumentation - everything but drums. If you can accept that, and as a fan that's what you should be expecting, then J's awesome live, from strumming his own brand of lullabies through to blasting out a guitar solo the guy rips it, all while looking somewhat indifferent to whether he's even hitting the right notes.I’ve read that Catspaw was finished just prior to the pandemic. All that is heightened by that fact that he rarely looks up from his songbook to the audience but again, J's a slacker. It's kind of a surreal experience, as if he's practicing rather than performing and you're not quite sure if you're supposed to be there.

One thing that you wouldn't expect if you haven't seen him before is that J has a tendency to go from one song to the next with barely an ending, just letting the last chord ring out as he reaches for his capo or re-tunes his guitar. That said, I saw J Mascis a few years ago and it was such a great experience, just one guy and a guitar holding the audience for nearly an hour. 2011’s ‘Several Shades of Why’ and 2014’s ‘Tied to a Star’ both have Mascis on reflective, laid-back form, cementing his status as one of the most versatile performers in modern rock.Īlthough he's probably best-known as a member of Dinosaur Jr., you're never going to get a belting rock show from the 'original slacker' when it comes to his solo stuff. He’s released four full-length records, in addition to two live albums, and has generally focused - especially on his most recent two solo LPs - on a mellow, acoustic sound that’s a million miles away from Dinosaur Jr.’s incendiary riffery. That same lineup of the band continues to record and tour today, having released their latest album, ‘I Bet on Sky’, in 2012, but the band were inactive between 19, and spent some time without Barlow - also known for his role as frontman of lo-fi legends Sebadoh - after a fallout with Mascis led to his firing in 1989.Īway from Dinosaur Jr., though, Mascis - one of the most recognizable men in rock, with his long white hair and beard and large spectacles - is also known for his solo career, the sound of which has generally been in stark contrast to his work with his band. Mascis is unquestionably best known for being the frontman of the highly influential rock band Dinosaur Jr., which he founded in his native Amherst in 1984, along with bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Emmett ‘Murph’ Jefferson.

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