A Harmonic Convergence: Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs Are Sid 'n' Susie

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WHERE ARE THE HARMONIES, sweet harmonies?

Turns out they're on "Under the Covers Vol. 2," the second collection of classic rock covers by the mock duo Sid 'n' Susie, aka power-pop maven Matthew Sweet and former/current Bangle Susanna Hoffs. While "Volume 1" mixed '60s pop staples with obscurities such as baroque-poppers the Left Banke, "Volume 2" "leans more toward the well-known," according to Sweet.

Indeed, the 16 songs on "Volume 2" almost make up a best-of-'70s-radio compendium, if that's not an oxymoron. Sweet does a nice Tom Petty cadence on "Here Comes My Girl" with some gorgeous harmonies from Hoffs on the line "She is all I need tonight." Hoffs' vocals have always been more suited to harmony/duets (check out Fleetwood Mac's "Second Hand News"), but she takes a suitably raspy gender-bending lead on Rod Stewart's "Maggie May."

"Plus, we've got the girl singing 'Go All the Way,' which is awesome because that's what the lyrics are doing," Sweet beams, noting that the Raspberries' Eric Carmen told Hoffs he'd always wanted to hear a girl sing that.

The only real misfire here is John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth"; the sensitive Sid 'n' Susie just aren't cut out for angry anti-authority rants.

And speaking of cutouts, Sweet notes they recorded "all these new-wave songs, but didn't put them on the record with the earlier '70s stuff because it just didn't feel right." The result: 10 online bonus tracks including Nick Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" and the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated." "And even with those 26, there's probably another 15 that we didn't finish or use."

While you might hear outtakes like Blue Oyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" on Sunday, the band will be all-acoustic. And because it requires four live (and solid) vocalists, one song you may not hear is the Mamas and the Papas' "Monday, Monday."

"We tried to sing that one the first shows we did for the first album. We stopped pretty quickly, though we could do it with this group of [four] people. Of course, then we'd have to tell a creepy John Phillips joke."

» Birchmere, 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria, Sun., 7:30 p.m., $25; 703-549-7500, birchmere.com.

Written by Express contributor Paul Stelter
Photo courtesy Shout Factory