Girlfriend

Matthew Sweet’s third album made power pop radio-friendly again (see the majestic “I’ve Been Waiting”) while it treated fans of pure pop music to songs that merged wide-ranging influences: there’s R&B (the title track), sad-bastard country (“Winona”), straight-up anti-war rock (“Holy War”), and Neil Young–ish singer/songwriter balladizing (“You Don’t Love Me” and the drop-dead-lovely finale “Nothing Lasts”). The guitar interplay between Robert Quine (Richard Hell & The Voidoids) and Richard Lloyd (Television) stings, stabs, and soars and provides a highly listenable (and wholly unpredictable) counterpoint to occasional pedal steel guitars and Sweet’s tender tenor.

Every song here carries the besotted lyrical weight of unrequited love.