Sid ’n’ Susie are throwing a ’70s theme-party — and they’ve even created their own soundtrack!
The duo (pop singer/songwriter Matthew Sweet and Bangles vocalist/guitarist Susanna Hoffs) is touring in support of “Under the Covers Volume 2,” a lovingly hand-picked homage to ’70s pop. The release is a continuation of the thread begun with 2006’s Volume 1, which featured ’60s covers. Although Sweet and Hoffs have been friends for years, they had never considered collaborating until Hoffs began working with Shout Factory Records. The label asked for something “novel and unusual” and the covers project is the happy result.
“Neither of us thought the ’70s would be as much fun,” said Sweet in a recent phone interview. “But once we got into it, we were amazed at how much weird, cool stuff there was and how many different musical movements were going on.”
Indeed, the new disc dishes up a dizzying array of genres, from glam-rock (Mott the Hoople’s “All the Young Dudes”) to hippie-folk ( “Sugar Magnolia” by the Grateful Dead) and even prog-rock ( “All Good People: Your Move/All Good People” by Yes). Hoffs applies her velveteen voice to Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” and a gender-bending turn on Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May,” while Sweet delivers a snarling take on “Gimme Some Truth” by John Lennon.
These are no strangers to the pop charts themselves. Sweet practically owned the airwaves in 1991-92 with his monster-hit “Girlfriend” while Hoffs and the Bangles ruled the ’80s with confections like “Walk Like an Egyptian” and “Manic Monday.” Both find it refreshingly cathartic to practice pop archaeology and reconstruct the work of their heroes.
“In my earliest cover bands, I always played bass,” Sweet said, “so I never got to learn the intricacies of the songs. Now that I’m playing guitar, I can capture the spirit. We’re after that ‘magic thing’ these songs have.”
The tour is a stripped-down, acoustic affair that will bring the duo and two backing guitarists/vocalists to the intimate environs of Eddie’s Attic in Decatur. “I’m used to touring with a rock band,” Sweet said. “I couldn’t do something like this if Susie wasn’t there for support.”
Sweet became animated when reminded of Eddie’s “no chattering” policy that seeks to ensure an attentive audience. “That’s the first thing we’ll be telling people is that they can talk! We’ll be interacting with the audience, answering questions, taking requests, it’s kind of like musical comedy!”
The Georgia stop is a musical homecoming of sorts for Sweet who cultivated his craft in the fertile soil of the ’80s Athens music scene. The Nebraska native still waxes wistfully about his time there: “I was a student at the University of Georgia, 18, away from home for the first time and afraid. I fell in love all the time. There were all these crazy feelings. It was an intoxicating place. I remember the heat, the kudzu, the Southern belles. There were all these great bands and artists that supported one another. I feel like I caught the end of a golden era; it really was the Liverpool of the South.”
Concert preview
Sid ’n’ Susie (Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs)
7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday. $25. Eddie's Attic, 515-B N. McDonough St., Decatur. 404-377-4976. www.eddiesattic.com
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