Reviews

In the music market, a person decides whether or not to purchase something new based on perceptions.  Forget everything you thought you knew about this band, because you haven’t even got a clue anymore. What started out as The Getaway, a group of pre-scene kids from upstate New York then progressed into Matchbook Romance, emo pop punk headache of Epitaph records which has now become a group of musicians who locked themselves away and did a lot of growing.  The result was “Voices,” the biggest risk of their careers as well as the best they have yet to offer.   
 
Matchbook Romance recorded this record in a barn out in Massachusetts that is believed to be haunted.   Haunting is the artwork, the disjointed melodies, the abandonment of power chords and the unexpected intellectual stimulation brought about by this record. The band has a real progressive feel now; full of imagination and something I personally never thought this band could be. “Goody, Like Two Shoes,” is full of dissonant, melodic and heartfelt. Lyrics include “I’ll be taking swings at a ghost while you’re laying down dead right in front of me,” and “You’re a mess but I like it that way. I’m a fool, but only a fool knows a miracle.”  The song features violin, changes tempo abruptly and goes from guitar breakdowns to pleading choruses and back again. The last song on the album is a ballad that I’m not too fond of but it leads into a hidden acoustic track that’s delightful. Favorite track? “My Mannequin Can Dance.” It’s got creativity, flow, energy and absolutely nothing that any previous Matchbook Romance has possessed.  
 
It’s not that this band hasn’t always been doing their own thing, making their own sound and giving it their all, it’s that for the first time, I feel like this band has just sat back and thought about what they as people wanted to contribute to music rather than what everyone else wanted to hear from them.  It’s a special thing to be a part of such an interesting transformation.  Poughkeepsie, NY is proud.