THE MATCHES

Halloween really is scary!

The first thing I ever heard about The Matches was from my sister. She would see the band monthly in Oakland. She has a signed shirt somewhere. I basically ignored her enthusiasm and learned a lesson: don't ignore people who are enthusiastic. I started paying attention when I heard that Rick Rubin showed up to one of the Oakland shows, that there was a bidding war, and the band was going to sign with Epitaph—at the time one of my favorite labels.

Then came a sea change where I ignored The Matches for another couple years, while coming in to orbit with the many satellite bands and people The Matches left in the wake of their (now international) success.

When I finally bothered listening to The Matches (eagerly, but also ashamed and alone), I was more than impressed. As a punk-pop quartet, the band has more ideas going on at once than most bands—particularly bands in the genre. The first I hear of the newest release, Decomposer, was a nine-minute MP3 preview of the album, with every song hacked up and sutured together. This is some preferable violence, I thought, likely watching the news at the time. (NOTE: I can't find this MP3, but if someone has it, please send it to me.)

I like Decomposer, especially the arrangements. The band does this thing—especially on the included-below MP3s—where they will look over their shoulders and wink at the formative moments of rock 'n' roll, that Chuck Berry and early Beatles style pop from the '50s and '60s. Only the completely mutilate those moments with '90s-levels of volume, '00's spasms of electronics, and campy, zombie-smart-ass lyrics. The Matches work with different producers for different songs, which always sounded like fun—if expensive—idea.

At times, the production has that same sheen that makes AFI albums sound dead—but you have to expect some of that when you get (current) John Feldmann and Mark Hoppus trying to outdo each other on the same record. But the band adjusts live, where the songs crackle and come to life. A band with this many fans gyrating around doesn't need to flip out onstage at all, but The Matches still look like a band on tour for the first time, playing in a basement in Santa Barbara or something, jumping around, engaging the fans. It's endearing.