Meet the Band: Sam Regas (guitars and vocals), Brad Berbari (guitars), Drew Watson (drums), and Matt McDonald (bass)
They Never Travel Far Without a Little Big Star: These high-school juniors (three are from Canton, one lives in Cleveland) mix jangly power pop with Pavement-style indie rock. "We dressed up and played as Pavement for a Halloween concert at the Beachland," says Regas. "Our drummer was shirtless and had these really short shorts, like [Pavement's original drummer] Gary Young sometimes wore, which was both funny and disturbing."
They've Done More in 17 Years Than You'll Ever Do: Since their debut album, Shot of Bliss, was released last year, the Big Sweet have opened for Sara Borges, Cracker, and Josiah Wolf. Their new album, Ultraviolet Rain, will be unveiled this week at a CD-release show.
Wait, You're How Old?: Regas talks about his band's albums like one of those old-school guys you see hanging around a record shop on Saturday afternoons. "We wanted to make a dense pop record that was musically adventurous but still very lyrical and rooted in melody," he says. "We felt our last album had some good tunes on it, but it felt less like a cohesive whole and more like a collection of songs."
Why They Say They Matter:
"We wanted [Ultraviolet Rain] to feel like a singular piece of music, one with tracks that could stand on their own, but together feel like a true album," says Regas.
Why We Say They Matter:
Loaded with sound effects and a definite ebb and flow, the album recalls recent Wilco in structure and tone.
Where You Can Hear Them: myspace.com/thebigsweet
Where You Can See Them: At the Auricle in Canton on June 3.
— Michael Gallucci