Holy Smokes starts with the punchline. Disorients you, then brings you back home. It’s the kind of record that’s coming and going. You don’t know if it’s gonna slap you on the back or across the face. A gut-punch, a haymaker, three piece and a biscuit. Sucich sings about death and love, and by the end of the record you won’t know which is which. It’s all the same to him, living is just editing, you change your looks, your mind, your friends, your faith, try to get in shape for the afterlife. The songs are a confident strut, nothing chickenhearted about them. Sucich is Hannibal crossing the Alps, telling you tough truths through treacherous terrain. Cut straight to the heart, straight to the point. He’s showing you all his cards, and he’s holding a dead man’s hand. These are songs that see the future and the past with equal clarity. The only unknown is the present. We’re all just getting by, doing what we can, honoring a handshake agreement with something somewhere we can’t quite trust. Sucich is skeptical of everyone – God, country, you, me, and himself. Everyone’s full of shit, no one is beyond reproach, and even the things made with the purest of intentions are out to get you. America the beautiful, she’ll break your heart. Life’s one big joke, and all you can do is laugh. Well, that and keep breathing.

• Mike DiCenzo

Matt Sucich writes songs mostly with a pen and sings them, always, with his mouth. His last name is pronounced Sue.Sitch and the new LP titled Holy Smokes is out NOW on Five & Dime Records. You may have read about it above, unless you just scrolled down. That’s cool too. Make yourself at home.

His 2021 LP, Don't Be so Hard on Yourself, puts lyrics front-and-center in a mostly hushed production, and Dave Holmes of Esquire magazine says Don't Be So Hard On Yourself "feels like a good, honest talk with a close friend after a tough year." From the vivid imagery of opener, Make Peace to the personal vignettes of New Normal, Matt is joined by long-time collaborators and bandmates, as well as a special appearance from Adam Duritz of Counting Crows.

Prior to that, Matt released his Thousand Dollar Dinners LP in 2019, which was well received up until the world shut down. It garnered some nice quotes from reputable online magazines. Here's one:

On the road Matt Sucich has most recently toured with Counting Crows and Kathleen Edwards. Matt has also performed at Willie Nelson’s Heartbreaker Banquet in Luck, TX, Firefly Music Festival in Dover, DE, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, TN and Newport Folk Festival in Newport, RI. It’s possible you’ve heard Matt Sucich on the radio, including NYC's WFUV, WXPN in Philadelphia, and Nashville’s Lightning 100. Or maybe Matt’s singles like “Upper West Side” & “Montauk,” came up on your weekly playlist...or maybe not. Either way you’re here now, so thanks.