MATT THE ELECTRICIAN
Baseball Song
Chez Dre
Matt Sever really is a regular blue-collar type of guy. An
electrician by day and a singer-songwriter at night, he'd been
knocking around the Austin scene for a couple years when he struck
up a friendship with up-and-coming young singer-songwriter Ana
Egge. Like almost everyone else who has heard him, Egge was impressed
with Matt's simple yet inspiring songs and stories, and introduced
him to drummer/producer Dave Sanger of asleep at The Wheel.
Sanger, who performs both those duties on Baseball Song, has
captured the innocence of Sever’s music, giving it just
enough of a foundation to keep it interesting while retaining
its charming glow. Sever’s lyrics capture everyday feelings
and situations with a naive, straightforward gracefuIness.
The title track is sure to hit home with true baseball fans:
"There's nothing better than sitting out in center field/It's
noon and you're drunk like it's midnight/Eleven runs down and
there's no one around/ And we're doing the wave, just the two
of us." The tune displays a love for the game and a delightful
way of viewing life in a way that no else has quite expressed
before in song. Most of Baseball Song is similarly direct and
entertaining, an impressive debut that makes Matt The Electrician
a songwriter to watch. - JIM CALIGIURI
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1998 PAGE 105
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MATT THE ELECTRICIAN
Baseball Song (Chez Dre)
If Matt Sever ran the World,
baseball would still be the national sport; the home team would
really be the home team, and the players would autograph balls
for free and with a smile. And Sam Walton would have been lynched
long ago by a mob of mom and pop store owners - also with a smile.
There's almost nothing on Baseball Song that isn't unflinchingly
optimistic. On “I Remember,” Sever even admits that
“silver linings pile up on me.” They'll pile up on
you as well when listening to this album, set atop a dominantly
acoustic, though more poppy than folky, cloud of simple tunefulness.
Sever proudly and clearly tells how he likes everything from
“Food” (makes him “higher than any new drug”),
to “Scars” (“I like scars, I wanna remember”),
with the only bad word in his vocabulary being “Goodbye.”
If it's obtuseness and angst you're looking for, go elsewhere.
If you like your music positive and heartfelt, then you've been
waiting for the electrician. - Ken Lieck
The Austin Chronicle July 31,1998 - 57 vmmnnnnnnnnmn
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INsite
Magazine Sept. 1998 |
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Matt The Electrician
- Baseball Song
JS Do you like good music? Do
you like to have fun? Really? Ok, then Matt is the man for you.
This three piece local act--hold on. This ain't no fru-fru review.
We’re talking about Matt the Electrician. A talented group
of dudes ready to rock or folk or whatever they’re doing.
Would it help you out if I said
Violent Femmes or Arlo Gutherie, Hank Williams or Andy Griffth?
WouId it do justice to the neighborhood electrician? l don't
know. There sure are a lot of questions on the table. I do know
a couple of things for sure. I got a new band to listen to. And
I got a new CD.
It's always refreshing to get
a break from pretentious rockers and find refuge in some authentically
funny and conscious personalities. Lyrically, vocally and instrumentally,
Matt the Electrician’s new release, Baseball Song, takes
on big time with style. A+
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Matt The Electrician
Baseball Song
 Well, what can you say about
a guy who writes a song about baseball and turns it into a love
song for his girl? He's obviously a helluva smart guy. George
Will would be proud, too. Do one about football and he'll have
his butt covered for both seasons.
Man The Electrician is the brainchild of Matt Sever, an Austin-based
singer/songwriter and, yes, an electrician. Like all good DIY’ers,
he knows it pays to have a good day job to support the music
habit. While his voice is a little soft and sensitive he's no
navel gazer. If the aforementioned title track doesn't prove
it, then check out "Food," which boasts some of the
funniest lines on the album but again turns out to be a love
song for his girl. This dude's got his racket down. If Tim Allen
were a folk-rocker he'd be Man Sever.
Sever is no one trick pony, though. There's no gimmick behind
songs like "Life As It Should Be” and "I Remember,"
just raw, naked emotion. Still, he can't be sensitive for too
long so it's on to the "clown shoes and rubber nose"
in "Too Late To Change." Handyman by day and hilarious
singer/songwriter by night, Matt The Electrician is plugged into
one hot socket.
Chez Dre Records
644 NW 17th Street
Corvallis, OR 97330
541-757-1702
Email: chezdre@aol.com
Booking/Info: 512-797-3003
32 Performing Songwriter - May
1999
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Matt the Electrician
