Matthew Sweet ready to sweeten Valentine’s Day in I.C. concert

It couldn't be more fitting for Matthew Sweet to be performing at the Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon on Valentine's Day. Sweet crafted a number of terrific love songs during his ’90s heyday.

“Girlfriend,” his breakthrough 1991 album, is filled with catchy, intelligent songs inspired by affairs of the heart. There’s the clever title track, the infectious “Evangeline” and the wistful “I’ve Been Waiting.” The deep cuts, “You Don't Love Me,” “Don’t Go” and “Your Sweet Voice” also are inspired by relationships.

The 1995 song “100 Percent Fun” took love to another level with the perfect “Sick of Myself,” which is one of the greatest love songs of all time.

“You don’t know how you move me/Deconstruct me and consume me/I’m all used up/I'm out of luck/I am starstruck/By something in your eyes/That is keeping my hope alive.”

They don’t write them like that anymore -- and that’s barely an exaggeration. Yes, there are contemporary love songs, but not as many are on the charts. It’s not like it was a generation ago.

“That’s true,” Sweet said while calling from his Omaha home. “Pop music tends to be more about sex or money but not as much as about love. I think part of it is that it’s a different era. It wasn’t like when we grew up.”

Sweet, 59, recalled what it was like coming of age in Omaha. While enamored of a girl, he would slip into the sanctuary of his bedroom and pull out some vinyl and dream.

“It was an escape from your parents,” he said. “You would have that privacy, and you would think. But today is fundamentally different.”

The irony is that fewer love songs grace the pop charts but no recording artists sell as many albums as Taylor Swift and Adele. Much of their success is fueled by relationships.

“It’s a funny thing,” Sweet said. “They are the commercial monsters and they write love songs. Love is still what matters most to people, whether love songs are on the charts or not.”

Fans can revel in Sweet’s sonic confections on Cupid’s night.

“I didn’t plan it that I would be in Iowa City on Valentine’s Day,” he said. “It just worked out that way.”

But it’s not as if Sweet composed saccharine songs. Part of what made his classic tunes so great was Richard Lloyd’s muscular guitar lines, which at times bordered on abrasive. It was a great counterpoint to Sweet’s gift for crafting bright and buoyant power-pop.

In Iowa City

Sweet still is writing and recording solid songs, but don’t expect a bunch of new tunes from his latest album, “Catspaw.”

“I’m careful with placing recent songs in the set,” he said. “I’ll slip in some, but I’m more than happy to play the old favorites. I feel lucky to have such a great catalog of songs. I’m not one of those artists that’s sick of playing their songs. It’s never like, ‘If I have to play 'Girlfriend' one more time, I’ll hang myself!’

“I appreciate it whenever anyone likes any song I’ve written and recorded. Sometimes people will yell out songs when I’m performing and I say, ‘Be patient.’ When I come to Iowa City I’ll play what the audience wants to hear.”

Sweet hopes to return to the area more than he has over the years.

“I can’t remember the last time I’ve been to Iowa City, but I think it’s been a long time and it’s crazy, because it’s not that far away from here,” he said.

About a decade ago, Sweet sold his home in Los Angeles to return to his hometown.

“I wanted to come back for my parents,” he said. “I also wanted to be there for my family and my wife’s family. It’s been great coming back here since there’s so much to deal with living in Los Angeles. In the middle of the country, it’s easier from a touring perspective since I’m in the middle. I can get to so many places, like Iowa City.