Music reviews: Matthew Sweet, Debby Friday, The Warlocks, and more

Physical ailments, but Girlfriend remains a highlight of his career. The Lilys’ Kurt Heasley called it “the template for Power Pop” and years later, it’s hard to argue with that. Fiction Plane, the band that Sting’s son Joe Sumner fronted, covered Girlfriend in full for a 2014 tribute LP and the album’s songs still show up in movies and TV shows.
As pure as Girlfriend sounds, its making was anything but, with Sweet recently telling Rolling Stone about the “psychotic, perfectionist” state he was in during recording. While usually sweet and charming in interviews, Sweet actually seems like kind of a dick in these sessions for Girlfriend, but it all paid off. It’s probably not an album you want to put yourself through making, but it’s one that’s worth the trouble when it all comes together – if it comes together. Girlfriend did, and is certainly an album worth celebrating still.