Maybe anniversaries exist as a do-over. At least, that’s how it’s working out for Matthew Sweet, whose 20th anniversary tour for his iconic 1991 record “Girlfriend” has kept him busy since last fall. This time around, says Los Angeles-based Sweet, he’s getting to enjoy the record.

“I’m not as nervous and freaky as I was then, I’m more grounded now. So I can enjoy it more,” says the 48-year-old Nebraska native. “It was a hard time for me. I had made two records before ‘Girlfriend’ with no success. Then came all the attention. I was not prepared for the amount of work and specifically the amount of me-ness that was reflected back at me. It was sickening, in a way.”

We’re talking 20 years. Does Sweet feel, well, old?

“I feel old in general. It doesn’t feel like some old thing I’m having to relive,” Sweet says of “Girlfriend.” “At the end of 2010 I thought, ‘It’s going to be 20 next year, we should do something.’

[Then] I thought, ‘What was I thinking?!’ I had to relearn [the album]. Now, it’s really comfortable for me. Once we learned the record, it just felt normal.”

And Sweet’s ‘Modern Art’?

Sweet’s scheduling is a bit off: He released his new album, “Modern Art” just before the “Girlfriend” anniversary tour began: “We knew the two were coinciding, but I thought I could keep on promoting ‘Modern Art’ beyond ‘Girlfriend.’ It makes ‘Modern Art’ a bit more mysterious. But I think it will get its attention over time.”