"Some may remember JOEY SWEENEY from first-wave SpinArt lovable-huggables THE BARNABYS. They made a handful of spirited depresso-pop records in the early-90s that got mad love from everyone from the NY Press to Puncture. In ’95, Sweeney issued his solo debut, Heartache Baseball, which referenced BIG STAR’S THIRD and THE RED HOUSE PAINTERS in equal, loving parts. Again, mad love from the indie press, and the lead-off track landed last year on the soundtrack to HAL HARTLEY’S THE BOOK OF LIFE, starring PJ Harvey and Martin Donovan. After Heartache Baseball and an impromptu visit from a crazed Japanese fan, Sweeney took a hiatus from this rock life, establishing himself as an up-and-coming rock writer of note. (Look for him today in Salon, Magnet and Spin Online.) His return to the fray is with the debut ep by his new band, THE TROUBLE WITH SWEENEY, an outfit that frames his characteristically witty but tortured missives of love and disenchantment with an almost alt-country grace and chamber-pop restraint.This six-song EP was recorded with Edan Cohen (PINES OF ROME) and guests BRAIN MCTEAR (MAZARIN, MATT POND PA); it also features a goose-pimply cover of BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD’s “Flying On The Ground IS Wrong.” Fans of WILCO, SIMON JOYNER, CAT POWER, VELVETS, BELLE AND SEBASTIAN, THE BYRDS and THE GO-BETWEENS, take note."