1998 Zero Hour Records. Over three albums the trio Varnaline has recalled everyone from Husker Du and Son Volt to Neil Young, with and without the monolithic Crazy Horse. With Sweet Life, though, singer, songwriter, and guitarist Anders Parker and his mates hit their stride with not only their most fully realized effort but also one of the most striking rock releases of 1998. A gorgeous sprawl of downbeat, acoustic-tinged rock, Sweet Life constantly pierces the skin. (Mark Lanegan fans, take note.) The stammering “Now You’re Dirt” seethes with the emotion drawn from a son trying to make amends with his dead father; “Northern Lights” lilts with pedal steel and wondrous, stargazing imagery; and the album-closing title track swells with a fusion of chamber music and splashy, bone-crushing rhythms. The sweet life, that song might suggest, is both a state of catharsis and hauntedness. Ditto for this collection. –Neal Weiss