Sweet Apple is more than just a question of Cobra Verde’s John Petkovic and Tim Parnin having some teenage kicks with Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis and Witch’s Dave Sweetapple. It’s the answer to the heartache, grief and depression that led Petkovic to drive from Cleveland to Vermont, where he rediscovered the healing powers of rock ‘n’ roll with some help from his friends. Love & Desperation (Tee Pee) isn’t a fountain of youth, but it’ll do in a pinch: a combination of stomping ’70s arena-rock riffs, Petkovic’s well-honed T Rex swagger and Mascis’ hard-wired guitar leads servicing lurid tales of sex, drugs and vampires. The members of Sweet Apple will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with Petkovic.
Sweetapple: Not to sound like an elitist asshole (or like some Chicagoan indie-rocker against all things not Chicago or rock), but I keep coming back to the 15-year-old Laphroaig single-malt Scotch as my drink of choice when selecting a tasty sipping beverage. I remember the first time I tasted this more mature brother of the common 10-year-old version: I was attending an Abbey Lincoln performance at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Mass. Boston hero Billy Ruane had purchased drinks for half the room—the friends-and-family deal. What an evening it was: Hearing the live performance of “Tears For Johannesburg” while enjoying my new friend from Islay.
Video after the jump.
