Discord & Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Discord and Rhyme is a podcast where we discuss the albums we love, song by song.

166: Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend (1991)

September 30, 2025  /  Amanda Rodgers

“When I'm doing music, it's kind of like throwing pottery on the wheel and just losing my mind. This thing comes from somewhere else. It's almost like it's not from me, but I know what to do once it starts coming.”

–Matthew Sweet

Power pop legend Matthew Sweet has had a rough go of it lately, suffering a debilitating stroke last year while setting out on tour, and it’s possible that he may never play music again. So today’s episode is both a bittersweet tribute to his career and a joyous celebration of his music, which is exactly the emotional tightrope that his 1991 cult classic Girlfriend walks from start to finish. Sweet recorded this album during the interim between going through a painful divorce and meeting his now-wife, and while his lyrics aren’t strictly autobiographical, the album’s 15 songs run the gamut from desperate yearning (“Don’t Go,” “You Don’t Love Me”) to pure ebullience (“I’ve Been Waiting,” “Girlfriend”). And it’s all topped off with crisp, direct production that evoked Crazy Horse and the Beatles’ Revolver during a period when many rock albums were soaked in reverb and drained of personality. So kick back as Rich, Phil, and returning guest Libby Cudmore deconstruct and consume an album that’s perfect in so many ways.

Miscellany

  • Matthew Sweet and this album have yet to be the subject of any biographies or scholarly literature, but these resources were especially helpful in the research for this episode:

    • Tim Sommer of Rock & Roll Globe conducted an extensive interview with Sweet in 2021 discussing his early history and the inspirations behind several key tracks from Girlfriend.

    • For a contemporary perspective, Bill Wyman (the journalist, not the Stones bassist) wrote a fascinating feature on the making of Girlfriend for the Chicago Reader in 1992.

    • Magnet Magazine published an oral history of Girlfriend in 2016 featuring interviews with Sweet, Rick Menck, Lloyd Cole, Fred Maher, and other figures in the album’s orbit.

    • Spin magazine conducted an interview with Sweet in 2021 looking back on Girlfriend to commemorate the album’s 30th anniversary.

    • Guitar.com published a feature diving into all of the guitars and gear used throughout Girlfriend, and GuitarPlayer.com has a piece focusing specifically on “Evangeline.”

  • As mentioned in the episode, Richard Lloyd is a thoughtful, philosophical guitarist with a truly unique perspective on the instrument. He has a series of guitar lessons called The Alchemical Guitarist, snippets of which are available on YouTube, he published an autobiography in 2019 titled Everything Is Combustible, and this interview with TapeOp magazine is also worth reading.

  • Rich considered Mogwai’s “Stupid Prick Gets Chased by the Police and Loses His Slut Girlfriend" for the “girlfriend” montage, but like so many Mogwai songs, it is a somber instrumental that just happens to have a funny title. 

Other links

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

  • Rich Bunnell (host)

  • Phil Maddox (moderator)

  • Libby Cudmore (special guest)

  • Mike DeFabio (guest appearance) 

Girlfriend tracklist 

  1. Divine Intervention

  2. I’ve Been Waiting

  3. Girlfriend

  4. Looking at the Sun

  5. Winona

  6. Evangeline

  7. Day for Night

  8. Thought I Knew You

  9. You Don’t Love Me

  10. I Wanted to Tell You

  11. Don’t Go

  12. Your Sweet Voice

  13. Does She Talk?

  14. Holy War

  15. Nothing Lasts 

Other clips used 

Matthew Sweet:

  • What Matters

  • BBC (Ming Tea)

  • Sick of Myself

  • The Ocean In-Between

  • Southern (The Buzz of Delight)

  • Catch Your Breath

  • When I Feel Again

  • She Said She Said (live)

  • Good Friend (demo)

  • Looking at the Sun (demo)

  • Cortez the Killer (live)

  • Devil with the Green Eyes

  • If Time Permits

  • Towers of London (with Susanna Hoffs)

  • Where You Get Love 

Others:

  • The Beach Boys - Barnyard

  • The Beatles - I Feel Fine

  • Television - See No Evil

  • Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend

  • Supertramp - Breakfast in America

  • Robyn - Call Your Girlfriend

  • Talking Heads - Girlfriend Is Better

  • Michael Jackson - Girlfriend

  • Pet Shop Boys - Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend

  • The Smiths - Girlfriend in a Coma

  • Reel Big Fish - She Has a Girlfriend Now

  • Oingo Boingo - Whole Day Off

  • Prince - If I Was Your Girlfriend

  • Ariana Grande - Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored

  • NSYNC - Girlfriend

  • Richard Hell & the Voidoids - Liars Beware

  • They Might Be Giants - Sleeping in the Flowers

  • Big Star - Watch the Sunrise

  • Better Than Ezra - Cry in the Sun

  • The Offspring - Staring at the Sun

  • Beck - Sissyneck

  • The Beatles - Oh! Darling

  • Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken?

  • Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken

  • Lloyd Cole - No Blue Skies

  • Tom Waits - Downtown Train

  • Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach - Toledo

  • Mariah Carey - Vanishing

  • The Beach Boys - Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)

  • The Grateful Dead - Attics of My Life

  • R.E.M. - Welcome to the Occupation

  • 10,000 Maniacs - What's the Matter Here?

  • Natalie Merchant - Wonder

  • Iris DeMent - Our Town

Band/album personnel

  • Matthew Sweet – production, all vocals (1–12, 14), acoustic piano (1), electric rhythm guitar (1–4, 6, 7, 10–14), bass (1–7, 9–14), acoustic rhythm guitar (2–5, 8–11), electric guitar intro (6), acoustic lead guitar (8), electric lead guitar (12), vocals (13, 15, acoustic guitar (15)

  • Richard Lloyd – electric lead guitar (1, 2, 6), electric rhythm guitar (7)

  • Robert Quine – electric lead guitar (3–5, 7, 9–11, 13–15), electric rhythm guitar (4)

  • Lloyd Cole – electric rhythm guitar (4, 11, 12), acoustic rhythm guitar (8), electric tremolo guitar (11)

  • Greg Leisz – lap steel guitar (3), pedal steel guitar (5, 9, 12)

  • Ric Menck – drums (1, 2, 4, 11–13)

  • Fred Maher – production, drums (3, 5–7, 9, 10, 14), acoustic rhythm guitar (13)

  • Jim Rondinelli – recording, mixing

  • John Parthum – recording assistant, mix assistant

  • Dana Vicek – recording assistant, mix assistant

  • Scott Hull – editing, assembling

  • Bob Ludwig – mastering

  • Emily Morrison – project assistant 

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

  • Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

  • Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

  • The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

  • Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

  • Herbie Hancock - Hornets

  • Kraftwerk - Autobahn

  • Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

  • Matthew Sweet - Divine Intervention (this episode only) 

You can buy or stream Girlfriend and other albums by Matthew Sweet by visiting merchbar.com and searching for Matthew Sweet, and you can also find it at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Instagram @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing and production are by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for the introduction and theme song. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.

tags / Rich Bunnell

This website and all episodes' discussion/commentary © 2018—2025 Discord & Rhyme. Excerpts from recordings appearing in episodes are included for purposes of review only, and all rights to such material remain property of their copyright holders. Please note that we make a good-faith effort to ensure all information included in these episodes is accurate, but if we get something wrong, let us know at discordpod@gmail.com and we will print a correction in the show notes. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Website design by Amanda Rodgers. Thank you for visiting, and keep as cool as you can.

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