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The Matches

E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals (2003)
Self-Released

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: Brian
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on October 24th 2003

Having come from Oakland, you would think that this unsigned quartet would either have its pop-punk roots firmly planted in either the late ‘80s/early ‘90s Lookout! explosion or the cluster of bands Drive-Thru picked up later in the decade in one fell swoop. Instead, The Matches deviate from both, choosing the tried-and-true formula of playing relatively harmless pop-punk that changes up its tempo every so often, incorporating some “oo-woo-oos,” “aahs,” and “na-na-nas.”

It’s hard to really like this album unless you’re ready to drop pretensions of H-bomb proportions. An obvious immaturity stands behind its lyrics like Charlie Brown standing behind the tree in hide-and-seek. The vocal harmonies are occasionally layered for just that right approach, and the chord progressions are rehashed as much as this sentence’s idea.

Much like the Life in General-era MxPx, this band tries for clever lyrics to make up for its lack of post-adolescence issues. The song “Audio Blood” has the simple premise of going to shows, but expresses it with lyrics such as “we meet underground / where the air is thick like mud, / and the bands makes noise / that we call audio blood.” Again in “Say 18;” we’re subjected to lyrics like “she’s got a lot of issues / like a good magazine.” The only real attempt at a socialistic attitude is in “Sick Little Suicide,” with a combination of relative tobacco industry criticism and a disdain for our desire to replicate magazine covers.

The most common chord progression of all is heard in “Destination: Nowhere Near” (see: the Suicide Machines’ “Stay,” among others). Luckily, the lack of originality is forced to clash with the surprise harmonica that the bridge brings us; the timing, position, and use of the instrument similar to Green Day’s “Walking Alone.”

The most interesting song of all is the closing, untitled acoustic track. Instead of slowly strumming chords and crying their bleeding hearts out, the members take turns spitting out lines that are sometimes interrelated until they go off on another tangent, almost as if the Blood Brothers had a good talk with Against Me! about how to play pop-punk. It’s nice to see them avoid what would otherwise be a prototypical sob-fest.

Always catchy but never quite enthralling, The Matches show occasional flashes of brilliance but never quite come off as something that can completely dodge the word “derivative.” The band shouldn’t have a whole lot of trouble finding a label. I'm just worried that they'll have some trouble finding a genre that hasn't been used more than an alleyway crack whore in downtown Oakland.

MP3s
"Dog-Eared Page"
"Audio Blood"
"Chain Me Free"

[taken from knifeparty]

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Anonymous (March 26, 2005)

i have to admit that i love this album. it's a really upbeat and fun album. i enjoy it because it's trivial and catchy. i don't really under stand why people get so angry in their posts on this site. if someone wants to bash a band you should just let them. you don't need to defend the matches cred. it's not like you know them personaly. it seems to me that people wear bands like an indenity. if you like it, just listen and don't worryabout what people say. it's not worth getting upset about. same goes to those people who hate this band . if you don't like it, just state your opinion of the music and leave it at that. you don't need to attack fans to reinforce your indie ego. i don't even consider this album punk. it's just a good catchy pop rock. however, if you guys, or girls (sorry about the sexism), enjoy this bickering then please accept my apology and carry on. it's at least amusing to read.

Anonymous (March 22, 2005)

omg!! i love them!! like, no one has ever heard of them, but they really do deserve to be known!! i love you!!

Jerbear89 (March 3, 2005)

i love this cd so much the matches are my favorite band!

Anonymous (February 25, 2005)

brilliant! it may be simple and full of "ooowwhhss" and childish lyrics, but the music sticks and it's a great album to listen too.

Anonymous (June 1, 2004)

It does help that the guys are probably the nicest and funniest people I've ever met in my life, but I do agree, it's about the music.

The only girls that make me want to gag are the ones who write their numbers on Shawn's arm...or the ones who are all over them at shows. You know, the girls who post on the message board who say, "LYKE OMG SEAN IS SOOO HAWT!" Yeh, those girls. They do that to every band though. I'm more worried about them than I'm worried about the girls, like me, who like to have actual conversations with them.

Anyway, The Matches are my favorite band...ever. They have so much stage energy and no one can match the live show that they put on. I've seen them about 15 times live and every time they get better and better.

inagreendase (November 8, 2003)

"missed by a mile" ???

Holy shit, it's one person's opinion. Of the music. If I interpret a lyric wrong or something, then maybe you could use "missed by a mile" in a proper context.

And to the person saying I criticized their lack of political talk, all I said is that they have one song about it. "Post-adolescence issues" doesn't necessarily have to mean I'm pissed they're not following a political standard.

Anonymous (November 5, 2003)

I hear a lot of the buzz about the matches is coming from other bands. musicians seem to get what the matches do more than the punker-than-thou poser punks online. it seems the Matches just go out and play and let people talk them up online or spread the word or attack them or put them down or whatever. They don't seem to care as long as they can keep playing shows and winning over some new fans each time.

I like this CD a lot, so do most musicians in bands on the road I've talked to who know about the matches.

(and on their website they don't hesitate to say that they're not punks, never claimed they were.)

Anonymous (November 5, 2003)

Over-hyped? by who? the band isn't doing this. There's almost no press about them, there are no ads, there's no record label, there isn't any airplay. The only hype is from people who have seen the band - usually without knowing shit about them before - and been blown away. Like me.

also - reviewer missed it by a mile on this CD. best 10 bucks I've spent in a long time.

Anonymous (November 5, 2003)

I think this is a great CD.

It doesn't try to be great art, just great rock music, and succeeds --with very inventive lyrics. One poster criticized the lyrics in Audio Blood which is about the all-ages scene but he/she just didn't get what makes that song so good. It takes something very important and familiar to a lot of people and then uses really strong images with a different spin to describe something we've all experienced, giving it a different interpretation. And it's believable because it has a lot of raw passion. Seems to me that's just what good song lyrics should do.

But I think the girls posting about the Matches being so friendly and talking to fans and shit are missing the point (and those girls definitely are not helping their favorite band any). It doesn't make any difference if the band is nice, it's all about the music. A band can be a bunch of pricks, but if they sound great on CD and do a great live show I'm still a fan. A lot of brilliant musicians are assholes, but who cares. And this thread is all about a CD review, not reviewing the band's social skills. Fuck their demeanor. I applaud their music and their astounding live show.

and just for the record, I'm a guy and always in the pit. and the pit was fierce at the couple of Matches shows I've been to. these guys are pop or rock or something but they're not punk, but their intense live set out-punks most every new so-called-punk band I've seen. (they're no match for old school like the Casualties, of course, but that's not what they're trying to do)

Anonymous (November 3, 2003)

ive read the article and about half of the replies to it. the way i look at shows and creativity was completely changed in march when i went to the matches cd release show. i had never seen or heard them before but after that show i felt like i could go out and do anything i could possibly dream up. ive never felt more inspired in my life. the venue, iMusicast, broadcasts over the internet and after they played their set they requested for the cameras to stay on. they left the stage.. exited the building and came in through the back of the crowd to everyones surprise and proceeded to play the untitled track in the middle of the crowd. everyone sat down, cleared a circle and jon and shawn played the song while everyone in the crowd hummed along to the apropriate parts. when they had finished i turned to my friend and said, "wow, did that just happen? ive never seen anything like that! that was so damn cool!" not being from the area, or even the state, i had no idea what this venue held. the matches help to capture raw emotion, inspiration, and the desire to act out your dreams. the people i made the 6 hour drive north with warned me that the matches would be my new favorite band after the show.. they couldnt have been more right. i really enjoy the cd and id place audio blood and sick little suicide as my favorite tracks but i love all the other songs also. the matches practice hard and play hard. i think that much is obvious by their rigorous tour schedule consisting of sometimes playing up to 3 shows in one day! i could go on for pages about how great this band is but ive written enough already.. i definitely approve of this album and i feel people would be crazy to not even give it a listen for themselves to decide. its worth it.

Anonymous (November 2, 2003)

first of all, i saw these guys at summerfest(milwaukee concert festival during the summer), i was waiting to see reel big fish who were playing 3 hours later and after sitting through two shitty local cover bands, i was expecting some other crappy band, but the matches came on the stage. within two songs i was jumping along and loving it. they have a live show that rivals flogging molly(yes i just compared the two, feel free to rip on me)

i don't see how their music is pop-punk, they don't fit a cookie-cutter of that music style. and i would like to see any lead guitarist of a pop-punk group play some of the solos jon does(album or live)

i don't see how they are overhyped. they are currently unsigned. they have been traveling with bigger bands(ie reel big fish, zebrahead) not because they are immensely popular,but because they're friends with them. so i don't know how enough people could know who they are to hype them that much.

this album is wonderful, i love listening to it, and i think the musicianship and emotion in shawn's voice is incredible, but what would i know, i'm only 18 and blissfully listening when i don't know what good music is.(heavy sarcasm) screw whoever said that last line and his family.

in addition to being amazing performers and musicians, they are also the nicest band i have ever met, which helps(no one likes an asshole), they actually talk to their fans, amazing

thus 5 stars

funkisdead (October 31, 2003)

that score was too low. i don't hate this band... i just don't care. in my opinion, there is nothing special here.

funkisdead (October 31, 2003)

army of freshman is cool.

but you know what? you can't keep playing the "nicest people i've ever met card." being in a band is public relations, boy.

it doesn't come down to being "hardcore punx." it comes down to the talent of the band. if i like the music, then knowing the band put effort into it and that they are nice guys and that they have a great time doing what they love... all of that makes you love it more.

if you don't like it, then its just pathetic.

Anonymous (October 31, 2003)

Have any of you haters ever been to a matches show? most likely not...I've been to I'd say at least 15 and holy shit do they get better every time i see them! I remember when they were playing at this place called the oasis in San Rafael, CA one time way back when they were the locals. They were just these four guys rocking out on stage, having a good time and obviously doing something they love. There must have been only at the most 20 kids in the whole place but the locals brought this energy that I had just never seen before, that was the first time I saw them, and since then I've been hooked. Since then they've come such a long way in a short amount of time and the talent in that band is amazing. They have so much potential to be even better than they already are. E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals is an amazing album, you don't have to like it but I'm surprised some of you can't even recognize the talent, energy, fun, and work that went into this album. And not only do they play great music but the guys are some of the nicest people I've ever met in my life. They've also helped created one of the best scene's if not the best scene that there has ever been in the bay area. maybe it was as good back in the glory days of Gilman, but hey the point I'm trying to make is the scene now is awesome, and it wouldn't be this way without the help of the matches (i.e. the L3s) and some other great bands from around here that you "hardcore punx!" probobly wouldn't like, such as solemite, army of freshman, wit's end, locale A.M. etc. oh well I have to go eat food because I'm hungry!
.PEACE.UNITY.HEDGECORE.
-Michael

Anonymous (October 31, 2003)

the matches are the most creative, energetic, smart, dedicated, talented, etc. band out right now. you are on crack.

Anonymous (October 31, 2003)

i dont think anyone on here has said that they don't listen to anything else outside of punk rock. i'm pretty guilty of listening almost exclusively to independent music, but my cd collection is pretty fucking eclectic.

its not that i have a problem with this style of music, its that i have a problem with the way this band performs that particular style of music. i dont care for the music this band makes. it is not good. it is not interesting. it just is... the essence of mediocrity.

Anonymous (October 31, 2003)

you're the perfect example of everything i was talking about. you're too stuck in your own rigid ways to listen to anything else.

Anonymous (October 31, 2003)

Ya know... honestly, you'd think with a website based around things of this nature that you might have something a little more intellegent to say about things. This whole punker than thou bull shit that everyone seems to have in their heads these days is ridiculous. If you feel you need to prove yourself with things such as this, then you've got far larger problems to worry about. I am so sick of hearing people rag on bands, or people in general for that matter, just because they aren't the perfect image of what some whiney little elitists think is punk rock. No one is forcing anyone to listen to anything. If you don't like it, turn it off. Plain and simple. You don't see the rest of us whining so what gives you the privilege? I can't stand a lot of bands but you don't see my posting that all over the internet. I don't understand what the problem is with stepping away from your "big bad punk rocker" cd collection and listening to something different once in a while either, but aparantly there's some unwritten rule forbiding such things that I must not be aware of. Grow up, step out of the bubble, and quit giving a shit about what people think about things. Whatever happened to listening to music because you liked it and going to shows to have fun. Now it seems that you listen to bands to look cool and go to shows to whine about so-called "posers." Lay off The Matches and lay off everyone else that doesn't fit your cookie cutter molds.

Freedom of speech my friend,what's wrong with ragging on bands that suck?
The Matches story and the route they are taking could be an episode of making the band or something.

If you're sick of people on here expressing their views about the scene
bands, etc.. Don't bother reading and responding to it. It's that easy!

funkisdead (October 31, 2003)

i swear to god, all of you kids who say "emo" all the time need to get your fucking asses kicked.

i was in tower records a while ago, when the new yellowcard album came out. i was walking by these 13 year old girls fighting over the headphones, trying to check out the album. one girl gives up, her boyfriend walks over and says "did you like it?" she goes "nah, it was too emo for me."

too emo for you? what the fuck? i demand that all of you fucking clowns who use the "e" word to describe generic, crappy, pop punk should be required to buy the cap'n jazz anthology, braid's age of octeen, the early planes mistaken for stars catalog, and at least download some fugazi, rites of spring, and embrace. whether you like those bands or not, its plain to see that emo has been around well before dashboard confessional signed to vagrant.

you just don't fucking know. your ignorance goes beyond being mistaken about genre classifications... some bands actually released some interesting, complex, and intelligent music under the "emo" label, but now the scene has been commercialized before even reaching its creative peak. kids everywhere think yellowcard and the fucking starting line are emo. said kids go on and start their own generic pop punk bands, and call themselves emo.

the record-buying public has an insatiable hunger for looking cool and being fashionable. you've eaten up a fucking great style of music that had plenty of potential, and unique lyrical and musical ideas. now you are fucking vomiting tasteless, generic shit. at least pop punk had some glory years with green day before it became a diluted fucking joke... a stylish, thily-veiled, corporate owned abomination of creativity, and intelligence.

maybe its a blessing in disguise? "emo" was a shitty, vague genre name to begin with. maybe you morons should just keep it, and we'll just start all over again.

Anonymous (October 31, 2003)

They rock. Pure and simple.

Anonymous (October 31, 2003)

ignore my album rating.

pop punk is not punk. it's emo. relatively speaking, i think whoever wrote this review, says the matches are not followinbg the political standards of the punk scene which which is about political and social issues and activism. why are you reviewing a pop punk band if they don't fit on this site?

Anonymous (October 31, 2003)

Anonymous (October 30, 2003)

just let them exist, they rock and and play catchy songs, seriously, with all this "slit my wrists"-emo, we fucking need this.

and in other news, the aquabats has signed to warner.

Anonymous (October 30, 2003)

Does it matter whether this was recorded
in a basement,studio, etc? At the end of the day,The Matches still blow!

Anonymous (October 30, 2003)

"Recorded in a basement, huh? Why didnt they just go to a studio? Considering it was re-mixed and mastered by some major record label(capital)whore to cover up the shotty recording. It makes me wish i was a 18 year old girl so i could blissfully love it unconditionally. but im not, and this is a review, and i've heard enough great music to be objective. The Matches have awesome talent and a gaggle of fans willing to defend them with half-truths. Best of luck, sellouts."

It was only mastered by some guy at Capitol, the production was done by Mike Green (whos in a band called the Stone Cutters) primarily...

Anonymous (October 30, 2003)

It's a crying shame that E. Von Dahl hasn't killed the Matches yet...

Anonymous (October 30, 2003)

ok! here is what i got to say. all you's people acting like the matches aren't punk enough should shut up. the matches know they aren't full on hardcore punk rock. the fans know it too.well at least i know it.but that doesn't stop me from loving them to death. i haven't met the band,so i can't say "they are really nice guys." but i know they are a lot better than other bands out here with nasal singers leading and no substance. i will always love this album. the matches rock. and i am not going to ditch them when they are popular.

o yeah! the locals is their old name
and evan doll threatened to sue or something for the name.