Revision as of 21:06, 16 August 2020 editFrescoBot (talk | contribs)Bots1,135,457 editsm Bot: link specificity and minor changes← Previous edit | Revision as of 20:58, 23 November 2020 edit undoIllaZilla (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, File movers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers64,705 edits Rewriting. There was a lot of unsourced, poorly-sourced, and poorly-written stuff in here. It needed a complete overhaul to be brought up to WP standards.Next edit → | ||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Refimprove|date=November 2008}} | |||
{{Infobox musical artist | {{Infobox musical artist | ||
| name = The Matches | | name = The Matches | ||
| image = The matches.jpg | | image = The matches.jpg | ||
| caption = | | caption = Frontman Shawn Harris performing with the Matches on the 2008 ] | ||
| background = group_or_band | | background = group_or_band | ||
| |
| alias = The Locals | ||
| origin = ] | |||
| genre = ],<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617081309/http://www.dallasobserver.com/2004-11-18/music/strike-it-up%26page%3D68/ |date=2011-06-17 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.punknews.org/review/2375|title=The Matches - E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals|website=Punknews.org|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thematches/articles/story/6053626/new_cds_morrissey_alanis |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-08-05 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621121700/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thematches/articles/story/6053626/new_cds_morrissey_alanis |archivedate=2008-06-21 }} </ref><ref name="sfgate.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/25/DD93VPMLP.DTL|title=A Svengali tends the red-hot Matches' flame|website=Sfgate.com|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref> ]<ref name="sfgate.com"/> | |||
| |
| genre = ], ] | ||
| years_active = 1997–2009, 2014–2018 | |||
| label = ] | | label = ] | ||
| website = {{URL|thematches.com}} | | website = {{URL|thematches.com}} | ||
| past_members = | | past_members = | ||
* |
* Shawn Harris | ||
* Jon Devoto | |||
* Matt Whalen | |||
* Justin San Souci | |||
* Dylan Rowe | |||
* Matt Esposito | * Matt Esposito | ||
* Justin San Souci | |||
* Matt Whalen | |||
* Henry Dietzel | * Henry Dietzel | ||
* Jon Devoto | |||
* Dylan Rowe | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''The Matches''' were an American ] band from ], active from 1997 to 2009. Formed as the Locals, the group changed their name after five years to avoid conflict with a Chicago band of the same name. As the Matches, they self-released their debut album '']'' in 2003, then signed to ] who re-released it the following year. '']'' followed in 2006, seeing the band move from their ] roots in a more idiosyncratic direction with contributions from nine different ]s; it reached no. 18 on ]'s ] chart. With their third album, '']'' (2008), their sound became even more heavily layered and experimental; it was their only release to chart on the ], reaching no. 179. | |||
'''The Matches''' are an American ] band formed in 1997 in ], United States. The band is composed of vocalist and rhythm guitarist ], lead guitarist and backup vocalist Jonathan Devoto, bassist Justin San Souci, and drummer Matt Whalen. The Matches have released three ]s and are currently unsigned after their contract with ] expired. | |||
The band went on hiatus in 2009, releasing a digital album of unreleased songs and ]. Between 2014 and 2018 they reunited several times for shows and tours celebrating the ten year anniversaries of each of their studio albums, resulting in a pair of live albums and a new ]. | |||
On July 9, 2009, the Matches announced on their MySpace and Facebook pages that they were taking a "]", saying that, "our time to start new projects has come".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=2641990&blogId=499391240|title=Featured Content on Myspace|website=Blogs.myspace.com|accessdate=1 August 2017|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207065936/http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view|archivedate=7 February 2009}}</ref> On June 17, 2010 Shawn confirmed to ] that he had left the band. The Matches announced a one-time reunion show with the original lineup in May 2014.<ref name="reunion">{{cite web|url=http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/the_matches_e._von_dahl_killed_the_locals_anniversary_show_shawn_acoustic|title=Exclusive: the Matches announce ‘E. Von Dahl Killed The Locals’ 10-year anniversary show - News - Alternative Press|website=Alternative Press|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref> The show sold out, as did an additional eight shows and a following tour in Australia.<ref name="reunion"/> The band announced additional reunion dates and new songs in 2015. The band performed additional reunion shows in 2018. | |||
==History== | ==History== | ||
=== |
===The Locals (1997–2002)=== | ||
] ]s Matt Esposito (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Justin San Souci (bass guitar, backing vocals) and ] Matt Whalen (drums, percussion) started the band in 1997.<ref name="Selvin">{{cite web |last=Selvin |first=Joel |title=A Svengali Tends the Red-Hot Matches' Flame |publisher=] |work=sfgate.com |date=2008-03-26 |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/A-Svengali-tends-the-red-hot-Matches-flame-3222213.php |accessdate=2020-11-15}}</ref><ref name="Wood">{{cite web |last=Wood |first=Mikael |title=Strike It Up |publisher=] |work=dallasobserver.com |date=2004-11-18 |url=http://www.dallasobserver.com/2004-11-18/music/strike-it-up&page=68/ |archivedate=2011-06-17 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617081309/http://www.dallasobserver.com/2004-11-18/music/strike-it-up%26page%3D68/ |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref><ref name="Vigil">{{cite web |last=Vigil |first=Delfin |title=Bandwidth: The Matches |publisher=] |work=sfgate.com |date=2008-06-12 |url=https://www.sfgate.com/thingstodo/article/Bandwidth-The-Matches-3280945.php |accessdate=2020-11-23}}</ref><ref name="Apar bio">{{cite web |last=Apar |first=Corey |title=The Matches Biography |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-matches-mn0000473909/biography |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date=1998 |title=Out of This World |url=https://www.bishopodowd.org/yearbooks/yearbook_1998/ |publisher=] |journal=Mitre |volume=44 |pages=45, 51, 54 |access-date=2020-11-23}}</ref> Sophomore Shawn Harris (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) saw them play at the school ] and soon joined them: "I offered to play second guitar and add some original songs to the mix, and we spent the next four years getting noise complaints from neighbors."<ref name="Vigil"/><ref>"Out of This World", p. 51.</ref> The four named their band the Locals.<ref name="Selvin"/><ref name="Wood"/><ref name="Apar bio"/> In 2000 they came to the attention of Miles Hurwitz, former assistant publisher of '']'', through his eighth-grade son.<ref name="Selvin"/> He attended one of their practices, later saying that "I saw a spark — talent, vocal charm, hook-tinged material, musical accomplishment and much potential. And much to be improved."<ref name="Selvin"/> Hurwitz, 28 years the bands members' senior, became their manager.<ref name="Selvin"/> He would play a critical role in their career, co-writing their songs with Harris, producing their albums, directing their music videos, and participating in creative decisions including planning the group's image, wardrobe, and photographs.<ref name="Selvin"/> In their later album credits, the band nicknamed him "The Wizard".<ref name="Selvin"/> "Miles kept us together," said Harris in 2008; "We didn't know we could be in a band. We didn't know how to make that jump We'll work with him forever. He's an integral part of our equation."<ref name="Selvin"/> | |||
The band was formed as "The Locals" in 1997 by Justin San Souci, Matt Whalen, Matt Esposito, and ]. At that time, all four members of the band were at ]. Matt Esposito then left the band to enroll in the ], and Henry Dietzel was recruited to take Matt's place. Dietzel remained with the band until late 2001 and upon leaving he was replaced by Jon Devoto. In those early years, the band played ] music—creating songs like "People on the Block", "Studio 5866", and others. | |||
After graduating, Esposito left the band to attend the ].<ref name="Selvin"/> He was replaced by Henry Dietzel.{{citation needed}} The Locals self-released a six-song demo and a three-song ].{{citation needed}} The band members took jobs as kitchen hands at historic San Francisco music venue ], where they would watch bands perform weekly; Harris worked as cook while Whalen and San Souci were servers, hoping that this would get their band an opportunity to perform there.<ref name="Selvin"/><ref name="Vigil"/> They took vocal lessons, and Hurwitz expanded their musical palette by having them listen to albums by ], ], and ].<ref name="Selvin"/> "He was a history teacher for a while," said Harris; "He made what we were doing seem more important and relevant. Subtly at first and then more and more, that set us apart from the other bands in the genre we play in."<ref name="Selvin"/> | |||
Gradually, their style started shifting towards ]. Their influences included fellow East Bay punk/pop-punk bands like ] and ], as well as more mainstream bands and musicians like ], ], ] and ]. The name "The Locals" soon led to ] complications when Yvonne Doll, the frontwoman for the ] ] ] also called "The Locals", contacted the band and asked that they change their name. | |||
With Dietzel replaced by Jon Devoto, the Locals built up a following in the ].<ref name="Selvin"/><ref name="Apar bio"/> Not readily accepted by the entrenched ] scene based around the ] venue in ], they instead become popular at Oakland all ages venue ], where they launched a series of shows called "L3: Live, Loud, and Local".<ref name="Selvin"/><ref name="Wood"/><ref name="Apar bio"/> "We could barely play," said Harris in 2016; "like we broke all of our ] at every show, I spent more time ] than playing my guitar. I couldn't really tell you how to play a ] at the time; we barely could play. But we put on this show that people came to and they freaked out, so I started focusing on lyrics and making songs have more substantial content."<ref name="Hill"/> They engaged in what they called "commo promo" tactics (short for "commotion promotion"), playing brief, unannounced acoustic sets outside schools, dormitories, shopping malls, restaurants, and music venues such as ].<ref name="Selvin"/><ref name="Apar bio"/> They would go to local high schools, enter classes that were in session, toss stacks of flyers in the air, and run through the halls strumming their guitars and singing their songs until they were chased off campus.<ref name="Hill">{{cite web |last=Hill |first=John |title=This Is How You Bleed in Audio: A Conversation with Shawn Harris of the Matches |publisher=] |work=vice.com |date=2016-05-31 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/689pk5/the-matches-interview-shawn-harris-2016 |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> These tactics were successful in drawing hundreds of young fans to their shows.<ref name="Hill"/> "We didn't mean to start a completely different scene," recalled Harris a few years later, "but we ended up doing so. While I love punk rock, I also don't love punk rock. I think it's just as much of a dick as it is a savior. I love ] and ] and ], but I'm not gonna throw my fist up in the air for the institution of punk rock."<ref name="Wood"/> | |||
The band gained notoriety for "commo-promo", or commotion promotion, in which they would bring their ] and play outside various Bay Area venues as concerts for larger acts were letting out. In conjunction with Oakland's (now defunct) ] venue, the band started producing their own shows called L3 (Live, Loud & Local), which became a launchpad for many other Bay Area bands, as well as attracting such headlining acts as ], ], and ]. | |||
In late 2002 the group was contacted by a Chicago band also called the Locals, led by frontwoman Yvonne Doll, threatening a ] lawsuit if they did not change their name.<ref name="Apar bio"/><ref name="Loftus">{{cite web |last=Loftus |first=Johnny |title=Review: ''E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals'' |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/e-von-dahl-killed-the-locals-mw0000697563 |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref><ref name="Hill">{{cite web |last=Hill |first=John |title=This Is How You Bleed in Audio: A Conversation with Shawn Harris of the Matches |publisher=] |work=vice.com |date=2016-05-31 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/689pk5/the-matches-interview-shawn-harris-2016 |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> They complied, renaming themselves the Matches.<ref name="Apar bio"/> | |||
===''E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals'' (2003–2005)=== | ===''E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals'' (2003–2005)=== | ||
The Matches recorded their debut album, '']'', in a series of basements and living rooms and self-released it in February 2003.<ref name="Apar bio"/><ref name="Loftus"/> The title was a tongue-in-cheek reference to Yvonne Doll and the band's forced name change.<ref name="Apar bio"/><ref name="Loftus"/> Harris and San Souci created the album's artwork (Harris also co-designed the artwork for ]'s 2004 album '']'').<ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals |title-link=E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals |date=2004 |others=The Matches |type=CD liner notes |publisher=] |id=86699-2 |location=Los Angeles}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Treble & Tremble |title-link=Treble & Tremble |date=2004 |others=] |type=CD liner notes |publisher=] |id=PALMCD 2135 |location=New York}}</ref> Through self-promotion and performances with bands including ], ], and ], the Matches gained attention for their energetic live shows and sold over 4,000 copies of the album without the support of a ].<ref name="Apar bio"/><ref name="Loftus"/> A show at the ] in ] on October 21, 2003 was filmed, and released the following July as part of ]' live concert ] series '']''<ref>{{cite web |title=The Matches – ''The Show Must Go Off!, Vol. 14'' |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/show-must-go-off%21-vol-14-mw0001001267 |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> The band contributed the song "December Is for Cynics" to the compilation '']'', released in November 2003.<ref name="Apar bio"/><ref name="Wilson">{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=MacKenzie |title=Review: ''A Santa Cause: It's a Punk Rock Christmas'' |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-santa-cause-mw0000329096 |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> | |||
Eventually, under the new name "The Matches", they self-released their debut album, '']'' (this was assumed as an effort to publicly resent Yvonne Doll while avoiding ]). Then soon after they landed a record deal on ]'s ], although they had already previously released the album '']'' without a recording contract, ] re-released it. The version released by Epitaph lacks the song "Superman", but adds the songs "Borderline Creep" and "More Than Local Boys" instead. As well as slight changes to lyrics on "The Jack Slap Cheer", and the last untitled track (often referred to as "Track 11", "Abraham's Song", or "Scratched Out"). "Audio Blood" was featured in the video game ]. The band also worked with rapper ] on the song "Hot Topic is Not Punk Rock". | |||
By year's end, the Matches had signed to ].<ref name="Apar bio"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Epitaph Signs the Matches |publisher=Punknews.org |date=2003 |url=https://www.punknews.org/article/7812/epitaph-signs-the-matches |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> The label had ''E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals'' ] by ] and re-released it in May 2004 with a slightly altered track list.<ref name="Apar bio"/><ref name="Loftus"/> The Matches performed on that summer's ], which they would repeat in the three subsequent years.<ref name="Apar bio"/><ref name="Hill"/> They appeared, along with ], as guests on the ] track "Kids Today" on the compilation '']'', released in August 2004.<ref>{{cite web |last=Deming |first=Mark |title=Review: ''Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2'' |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/rock-against-bush-vol-2-mw0000634523 |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> That November, a ] was released for the song "Chain Me Free", and the band went on tour opening for ].<ref name="Wood"/><ref>{{cite web |title=The Matches Brand New Video 'Chain Me Free' Online |publisher=] |work=epitaph.com |date=2004-11-17 |url=http://epitaph.com/news/article/the-matches-brand-new-video-chain-me-free-online |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> | |||
=== ''Decomposer'' and ''A Band in Hope'' (2006–2008) === | |||
The Matches' second ], '']'', was released on September 12, 2006. The album features work by nine producers, including ], ], ], and ], among other ] mainstays. The albums also marks a change to more experimental alternative rock sound, as opposed to the pop punk sound of their first album. | |||
At this time, the Matches' music was rooted in ].<ref name="Apar Decomposer">{{cite web |last=Apar |first=Corey |title=Review: ''Decomposer'' |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/decomposer-mw0000779203 |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> Reviewing the re-release of ''E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals'', '']'' remarked that the band "join the long list of punk-pop bands that have made their clichéd mark on today's music scene" and "wear the influences of Green Day and Rancid proudly."<ref name="Farinella">{{cite web |last=Farinella |first=David John |title=New CDs: Morrissey, Alanis |publisher=] |work=rollingstone.com |date=2004-05-17 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thematches/articles/story/6053626/new_cds_morrissey_alanis |archivedate=2008-06-21 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621121700/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thematches/articles/story/6053626/new_cds_morrissey_alanis |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> The '']'' called it "an energetic romp through the same ideas lots of pop-punk bands romp through: broken relationships, boredom, depression, the lure of the road", while ] remarked that the band was "young enough not to raise eyebrows at the punk-pop kiddie park. But they have a better grasp of dynamics than much of their peer group".<ref name="Wood"/><ref name="Loftus"/> | |||
The Matches were on the ] supporting the new album. The Matches played the entire AP tour 2008 with other bands such as ], and ] – . Also, The Matches were one of the many bands who played on the ] tour in Australia late February and early March 2008. | |||
The Matches teamed up with Zebrahead for a ] of ]'s rendition of the ] song "Violent Love", released in May 2005 on '']''.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Dead Bands Party: A Tribute to Oingo Boingo'' |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/dead-bands-party-a-oingo-boingo-tribute-mw0000655965 |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> That July saw the release of '']'', a ] which they shared with ] and ], with each band contributing three tracks.<ref name="Apar bio"/><ref name="Luerssen">{{cite web |last=Luerssen |first=John D. |title=Review: ''Takeover Records 3 Way, Issue #2'' |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/takeover-records-3-way-issue--2-mw0000211117 |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> Harris and San Souci created the artwork for the album (they would later co-create the artwork for ] group Stole Your Woman's 2007 album ''The Scene'').<ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Takeover Records 3-Way Issue No. 2 |title-link=Takeover Records 3-Way Issue No. 2 |date=2005 |others=], ], The Matches |type=CD liner notes |publisher=] |id=TAK 006 |location=Santa Monica, California}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=The Scene |date=2007 |others=Stole Your Woman |type=CD liner notes |publisher=] |id=86699-2 |location=Long Beach, California}}</ref> The Matches played the Warped Tour again that summer.<ref name="Hill"/> Harris began illustrating with ]-based artist Emilee Seymour; together they formed the design firm Oxen, creating the artwork for the next two Matches albums as well as for Epitaph labelmates ]'s 2006 album '']''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oxen: 8th Annual Program – Album IMA Vox Populi Winner |publisher=] |work=independentmusicawards.com |url=https://independentmusicawards.com/artist/oxen/ |accessdate=2020-11-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Fans Elect New Winners in 8th Annual Independent Music Awards Vox Populi Poll |publisher=] |work=independentmusicawards.com |url=https://independentmusicawards.com/blog/2009/05/19/fans-elect-new-winners-in-8th-annual-independent-music-awards-vox-populi-poll/ |accessdate=2020-11-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Decomposer |title-link=Decomposer (album) |date=2006 |others=The Matches |type=CD liner notes |publisher=] |id=86815-2 |location=Los Angeles}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Matches – ''Decomposer'': Credits |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/decomposer-mw0000779203/credits |accessdate=2020-11-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=A Band in Hope |title-link=A Band in Hope |date=2008 |others=The Matches |type=CD liner notes |publisher=] |id=86938-2 |location=Los Angeles}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Matches – ''A Band in Hope'': Credits |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-band-in-hope-mw0000495831/credits |accessdate=2020-11-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Voices |title-link=Voices (Matchbook Romance album) |date=2006 |others=] |type=CD liner notes |publisher=] |id=86774-2 |location=Los Angeles}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Matchbook Romance – ''Voices'': Credits |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/voices-mw0000354708/credits |accessdate=2020-11-23}}</ref> | |||
The group finished their third album titled '']'' and released it on March 18, 2008. This album again featured the collaboration of multiple producers: Nick Hexum, John Feldmann, Tim Armstrong, Miles Hurwitz, Mike Green, John Paulsen, and Paul Ruxton (Paulsen and Ruxton of the San Francisco producer-collective Talking House, to whom the album is dedicated in the CD liner notes). | |||
===''Decomposer'' and ''A Band in Hope'' (2006–2008)=== | |||
The album was leaked on February 11, 2008. Harris wrote the following on the band's in response to the leak. | |||
The Matches made a guest appearance on ]'s album '']'', released in March 2006, performing on the track "Hot Topic Is Not Punk Rock".<ref name="Hill"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Review: ''The Graduate'' |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-graduate-mw0000580389 |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> After a stint on that year's Warped Tour, their second album, '']'', was released on Epitaph that September.<ref name="Apar bio"/><ref name="Apar Decomposer"/> The album was recorded at various studios with nine different producers, including Hurwitz, ], ] of ], ] of ], ] of ], ] of ], and ] of ].<ref name="Apar bio"/><ref name="Hill"/><ref name="Apar Decomposer"/> It built on their prior pop punk sound, adding idiosyncratic elements of ], ], ], and ].<ref name="Apar Decomposer"/> ] were released for the songs "You (Don't) Know Me" and "Salty Eyes", and music videos for "Papercut Skin" and "Salty Eyes". Hurwitz directed and came up with the concept for the "Salty Eyes" video, an homage to the ] film '']'' (1967), in which ]'s song "]" plays while Dylan holds up and discards cue cards with selected words and phrases from the lyrics; in their video, the Matches replaced the cue cards with old television sets, creating a chaotic scene.<ref name="Selvin"/> A few weeks after its release, ''Decomposer'' peaked at number 18 on ]'s ] chart.<ref name="Chart History-Independent">{{cite web |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/418600/matches/chart?f=326 |title=The Matches Chart History: Independent Albums |publisher=] |work=billboard.com |archivedate=2016-08-10 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810001718/https://www.billboard.com/artist/418600/matches/chart?f=326 |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> Extensive touring followed: By March 2008, the Matches had done four tours of Australia (including that year's ]), seven of Europe (including their first headlining club tour of the United Kingdom), and three Warped Tours.<ref name="Selvin"/><ref name="Apar bio"/> | |||
Their third album, '']'', was released in March 2008, and the band embarked on that spring's ] with ], ], and ] to support it.<ref name="Selvin"/><ref name="Mason">{{cite web |last=Mason |first=Stewart |title=Review: ''A Band in Hope'' |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-band-in-hope-mw0000495831 |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> The album found the band moving further away from pop punk, incorporating elements of ], mainstream ] paradigms, and ].<ref name="Mason"/> The '']'' called it "a tidy mass of musical ideas — ], ] and punk all mingle, lots of vocals, textured, carefully layered sound, sometimes like a pocket-size ]."<ref name="Selvin"/> An AllMusic review also drew a comparison to Queen, as well as to ], saying "the Matches don't seem to know exactly what they're doing big chunks of ''A Band in Hope'' are almost shockingly unexpected, verging at times on just plain weird."<ref name="Mason"/> Reflecting on the album a year and half later, Harris remarked that "on ''Decomposer'' and ''A Band in Hope'', we played around with a lot of studio tricks—especially ''Decomposer'', which was us learning about a bunch of studio tricks. And then on ''A Band in Hope'', we got carried away a number of times."<ref name="Lux Harris">{{cite web |last=Lux |first=Rachel |title=Shawn Harris on the End of the Matches and the Beginning of Maniac |date=2009-09-11 |publisher=] |work=altpress.com |url=https://www.altpress.com/features/harrismaniac/ |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> "Wake the Sun" was released as the album's single, and music videos were released for it and "Yankee in a Chip Shop". According to Harris, Epitaph did not expect the album to perform well commercially, but opted to release it anyway.<ref name="Lux Harris"/> It ultimately reached number 24 on the Independent Albums chart, number 179 on the ], and number 99 on Australia's ].<ref name="Chart History-Independent"/><ref name="Chart History-Billboard 200">{{cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/418600/matches/chart?f=305 |title=The Matches Chart History: Billboard 200 |publisher=] |work=billboard.com |archivedate=2016-08-10 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810001706/http://www.billboard.com/artist/418600/matches/chart?f=305 |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref><ref name="ARIA">{{cite journal |url=http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20080420-0000/issue943.pdf |title=ARIA Report: Week Commencing 24th March 2008 |date=2008-03-24 |issue=943 |format=PDF |publisher=] |archiveurl=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20080423004807/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20080420-0000/issue943.pdf |archivedate=2008-04-23 |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> | |||
On July 9, the band posted a bulletin on their MySpace saying that bassist Justin SanSouci will be leaving the band. The Matches asked people to send in demo tapes of themselves in order to audition for the recently opened role of a new bassist.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=396191 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2008-07-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.is/20120721020511/http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=396191 |archivedate=2012-07-21 }} </ref> | |||
===Hiatus and ''album 4'' (2009–2013)=== | |||
On August 7, 2008, The Matches announced that Dylan Rowe of ], whom they met 5 years prior, would be their new bassist. He replaced Justin San Souci at the ] on August 30, 2008. | |||
{{Quote box |quote=There was this thread going through the Matches like, "Hey, guys, let's do what popular people do." And somehow, the Matches were so much about not doing that, you know? And even in the sub-culture of the Warped Tour scene that the Matches existed in, we were not even doing it the way that they did it. And they weren’t even the main pop culture. It wasn't fun to think about the Matches in that sense, and when we attempted it, it didn't feel genuine to me—it didn't feel right.<ref name="Lux Harris"/> |source=–Shawn Harris in 2009 |align=right |width=30% |salign=right}} | |||
Founding bassist Justin San Souci left the Matches in July 2008; he went on to become a ]ist for a video game company.<ref>{{cite web |title=Justin Leaves the Matches |publisher=] |work=absolutepunk.net |date=2008-07-09 |url=http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=396191 |archivedate=2012-07-21 |archiveurl=https://archive.is/20120721020511/http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=396191 |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref><ref name="Heisel">{{cite web |last=Heisel |first=Scott |title='Honestly, We Had No Idea People Would Give a Sh*t' – The Matches' Shawn Harris on Their Reunion |date=2014-08-13 |publisher=] |work=altpress.com |url=https://www.altpress.com/features/honestly_we_had_no_idea_people_would_give_a_shtthe_matches_shawn_harris_on/ |accessdate=2020-11-22}}</ref> He was replaced by Dylan Rowe, who toured with the band that fall.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mohtasham |first=Saba |title=Weekend Review |date=2008-10-26 |publisher=] |url=http://165.227.25.233/2008/10/26/weekend-review/ |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> Creative differences were forming between the band members: A year later, lead guitarist Jon Devoto stated that he had wanted the band's new music to be "a little more straightforward. A little bit less quirky, indefinable. I want to keep the element of cleverness to a certain point, because that was one of the best points about us, our cleverness and all that. But there was also a point where every song was completely different and I think we lost a lot of opportunities with that."<ref name="Lux Devoto">{{cite web |last=Lux |first=Rachel |title=Jon Devoto on the End of the Matches and the Beginning of Bird by Bird |date=2009-09-01 |publisher=] |work=altpress.com |url=https://www.altpress.com/features/devotobird/ |accessdate=2020-11-16}}</ref> Harris stated that "There were really conflicting views within the band as to what the direction should be. For me, the direction has always been, 'Well, I wanna do what is fun when it comes to music and hopefully other people find what I find fun and enjoyable also fun and enjoyable.' There were definitely heated debates over, first off, how commercial a song should be, and second off, over what makes a song commercial in the first place."<ref name="Lux Harris"/> Their recording contract with Epitaph fulfilled, the band began writing and recording ] for a potential fourth album, but found these differences difficult to overcome.<ref name="Lux Harris"/> Harris later reflected: | |||
<blockquote>We got really ambitious, and part of that paid off in a great way, because we were really creative, and we experimented with all types of music and different producers and became this weird, arty pop-punk band. But at the same time, we got wrapped up in : "You need to play for more people, you need to play for more people, you need to play for more people. You need to impress promoters." We tried to be bigger than we should've been. When I look at the appeal of the band originally—being this sort of homespun, ] pop-punk band who put on their own shows and make their own clothes—we were like your friend's band, but your friend's ''good'' band. Our fans liked being around us. As things progressed, there was more of a separation between us as performers and our fans. Even the sound of the music became less like you're talking to your friends and more sort of ambitiously epic, maybe. I think we always retained that conversational style, but it was really all we were at the beginning. I'm not saying we lost that completely, but it got swept up in us trying to be a bigger band. I think the appeal for our band might've been that we were your friend's band.<ref name="Heisel"/></blockquote> | |||
"Wake the Sun" was featured on the Urban Outfitters Summer 2008 Soundtrack. | |||
"Wake the Sun" was also featured on ]'s ''2008 Warped Tour Compilation''. | |||
Hurwitz sent the band's new demos out to major record labels, attempting to get them a new recording contract, but the labels wanted them to alter the songs to make them more marketable.<ref name="Lux Harris"/> "There seemed to be some kind of core ideology that was sort of at risked of being compromised from within and without", said Harris, who at the same time had begun working on a new musical project with Jake Grigg of Australian band ].<ref name="Lux Harris"/> Devoto, meanwhile, had been working on his own material which Hurwitz helped him develop into an acoustic project.<ref name="Lux Devoto"/> Additionally, the impact of the ] affected the band's ability to tour: with their extensive touring schedules, they would stay with friends or with their parents when home, but as fuel prices and other costs increased, they could no longer break even on tours and were starting to accrue debt.<ref name="Lux Harris"/> They decided to stay home and record, and only tour when it would be lucrative, but such opportunities became fewer and further between.<ref name="Lux Harris"/> "So we were home longer and longer," said Harris, "which meant we were homeless longer and longer or crashing at our parents' longer and longer."<ref name="Lux Harris"/> | |||
The Matches were also winners of the 8th annual Independent Music Awards Vox Pop vote for best Music Video "Yankee in a Chip Shop". | |||
The Matches announced a hiatus on July 9, 2009.<ref name="Lux Harris"/><ref name="Lux Devoto"/> On August 12, they released a collection of their most recent demos and unreleased songs digitally as as '']''; the title was the subject line of an email from Hurwitz asking about the proposed album.<ref name="Lux Harris"/><ref name="Lux Devoto"/> "The album name is basically making fun of our manager's verbose e-mails", said Harris; " was just the subject header , and it had all these semicolons and like a four-way conjunction, so we just sent back the shortest e-mail saying, 'That's the title.' He tried to get us to change it a number of times, but we were like, 'Nope. That’s it.{{' "}}<ref name="Lux Harris"/> The band played a pair of sold out farewell shows on August 22 at the ] in ] and August 23 at the ] in ].<ref name="Lux Harris"/><ref name="Lux Devoto"/> Harris said of the latter that "the final show was I think the Matches' best show. We sold out the Fillmore which is where I used to make nachos as a kid—it was one of my first jobs. It was a really weird, full-circle vindication of a dream. It was a really nice goodbye."<ref name="Lux Harris"/> | |||
===Side projects and hiatus (2009–2013)=== | |||
The Matches are officially on hiatus as of July 9, 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=1176412 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-07-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.is/20120716132258/http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=1176412 |archivedate=2012-07-16 }} </ref> They played their final show to a sold-out crowd at ] on August 23, 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thebaybridged.com/2009/08/21/guest-blog-looking-back-at-the-locals/|title=Guest Blog: Looking Back at The Locals|date=21 August 2009|website=ThebaybBridged.com|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref> | |||
Some members of The Matches have embarked on personal side projects. ] performed as a solo artist on May 17, 2009 at ], playing three cover tracks and four originals. Devoto then formed the band Bird by Bird, which played their first live show at Blakes on Telegraph on August 21, 2009. Shawn Harris, along with Jake Grigg from ], started writing for a project called Maniac. Maniac has released several covers, a self-titled EP and, in 2010, they released their first full-length album, entitled Mania.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maniacmania.com/Splashpage.html|title=Maniac Mania|website=Maniacmania.com|accessdate=1 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111216151828/http://maniacmania.com/splashpage.html|archive-date=2011-12-16|url-status=dead}}</ref> Dylan Rowe is currently touring with several bands as bassist, including: ], Backseat Goodbye, and Bad Cop. On August 7, 2009, the band announced that they would be releasing a digital rarities album titled '']'' on August 12.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=1245732 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2010-02-08 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.is/20120804001828/http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=1245732 |archivedate=2012-08-04 }} </ref> | |||
With the Matches on hiatus, Devoto fleshed out his acoustic project into a full band called Bird by Bird, while Harris and Grigg named their project Maniac.<ref name="Lux Harris"/><ref name="Lux Devoto"/> Between 2010 and 2011 Bird by Bird released two EPs and one album, while Maniac released one EP and one album.{{citation needed}} Harris then started a new project, Fortress Social Club, who released two albums and an EP in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |last=Luerssen |first=John D. |title=Fortress Social Club Rock a House Party – Premiere |publisher=] |work=rollingstone.com |date=2013-12-31 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/fortress-social-club-rock-a-house-party-premiere-64549/ |accessdate=2020-11-21}}</ref> Harris also continued to work as a visual artist, contributing to the album artwork of ]'s '']'' (2008) and ]'s '']'' (2012) and ''Control'' (2015).<ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Shudder |title-link=Shudder (album) |date=2008 |others=] |type=CD liner notes |publisher=] |id=VR 457 |location=Chicago}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bayside – ''Shudder'': Credits |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/shudder-mw0000797547/credits |accessdate=2020-11-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Milo Greene |title-link=Milo Greene (album) |date=2012 |others=] |type=CD liner notes |publisher=] |id=531469-2 |location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Milo Greene – ''Milo Greene'': Credits |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/milo-greene-mw0002356679/credits |accessdate=2020-11-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Control |date=2015 |others=] |type=CD liner notes |publisher=] |id=546107-1 |location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Milo Greene – ''Control'': Credits |publisher=] |work=allmusic.com |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/control-mw0002791942/credits |accessdate=2020-11-23}}</ref> | |||
===Reunion shows (2014)=== | |||
In February 2014, the group began posting old photos under the ] #oldschoolmatches on their previously inactive official Facebook<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/thematchesband|title=Security Check Required|website=Facebook.com|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref> and Twitter<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/thematchesband|title=The Matches (@thematchesband)|website=Twitter.com|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref> accounts, leading fans to speculate about a reunion in the comments. | |||
===Reunions (2014–2018)=== | |||
On May 12, 2014 the band released a YouTube video and announced a one-time reunion show at Slim's in San Francisco on November 8 in honor of the 10 year anniversary of ''E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals''. Upon the show's quick sell-out, additional shows were added in Oakland, San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, and West Hollywood. In addition, Justin San Souci returned for the shows.<ref name="reunion"/> | |||
In January of 2014, Shawn Harris, Justin San Souci, Matt Whalen, and Jon Devoto met while all were back in Oakland.<ref name="Heisel"/> Their ] deal with ] for '']'' had expired, so they decided to re-release it themselves as an ] (the original releases had been in ] format) to coincide with the ten-year anniversary of the Epitaph release.<ref name="Heisel"/><ref name="Crane">{{cite web |last=Crane |first=Matt |title=Watch the Matches Discuss Their ''E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals'' Vinyl |date=2014-07-02 |publisher=] |work=altpress.com |url=https://www.altpress.com/news/watch_the_matches_discuss_their_e-_von_dahl_killed_the_locals_vinyl/ |accessdate=2020-11-22}}</ref> They began teasing the release through ], prompting inquiries and demand for a reunion concert.<ref name="Heisel"/> That May, they announced a one-time reunion show to take place in November at ] in San Francisco.<ref>{{cite web |last=Crane |first=Matt |title=Exclusive: The Matches Announce ''E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals'' 10-Year Anniversary Show |date=2014-05-12 |publisher=] |work=altpress.com |url=https://www.altpress.com/news/the_matches_e-_von_dahl_killed_the_locals_anniversary_show_shawn_acoustic/ |accessdate=2020-11-22}}</ref> It sold out immediately, as did a second date added at Slim's and a third at the ].<ref name="Heisel"/> Due to the unexpected demand, further reunion shows were added in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.<ref name="Heisel"/> The re-release of ''E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals'' came out that September as a two-disc package, including both the original self-released version of the album and the re-mixed Epitaph version.<ref name="Crane"/> The band ended up performing nine sold out shows in the United States, playing the album in its entirety as well as some later songs.<ref name="10YearsEVDKTL">{{cite web |title=10YearsEVDKTL |publisher=] |work=thematches.bandcamp.com |url=https://thematches.bandcamp.com/ |accessdate=2020-11-22}}</ref> Two performances at the Troubadour in Los Angeles were recorded, and released as the live album ''10YearsEVDKTL'' in December.<ref name="10YearsEVDKTL"/> This was followed by a five-date tour of Australia in January 2015.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Matches Announce Australian Tour – January 2015 |publisher = Life Music Media |work=lifemusicmedia.com |date=2014-09-19 |url=http://lifemusicmedia.com/the-matches-announce-australian-tour-january-2015/ |accessdate=2020-11-22}}</ref> | |||
In October 2015 the Matches released a new ], "Life of a Match", with "Crucial Comeback Song (Mary Claire)" as the ].<ref name="Life of a Match">{{cite web |title=Brand New Music + San Francisco Shows! |publisher=The Matches |work=thematches.com |date=2015-10-01 |url=http://www.thematches.com/brand-new-music-san-francisco-shows/ |accessdate=2020-11-22}}</ref><ref name="AltPress Life of a Match">{{cite web |title=The Matches Take a Look Back on the Scene in 'Life of a Match' Video (Exclusive) |publisher=] |work=altpress.com |url=https://www.altpress.com/features/the_matches_take_a_look_back_on_the_scene_in_life_of_a_match_video_exclusiv/ |accessdate=2020-11-22}}</ref> Harris and San Souci created the artwork for the single.<ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Life of a Match / Crucial Comeback Song (Mary Claire) |date=2015 |others=The Matches |type=record sleeve |publisher=The Matches}}</ref> A music video for "Life of a Match" was released, consisting of snippets of other bands' music videos as well as the Matches' own past ones.<ref name="AltPress Life of a Match"/> The band played two shows at the Fillmore that December.<ref name="Life of a Match"/><ref name="AltPress Life of a Match"/> Harris started a solo ] project called St. Ranger, releasing the album ''Leaves L.A.'' in February 2016.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hill |first=John |title=St. Ranger Rides a Great American Wave in 'Let's Go Wander' |publisher=] |work=vice.com |date=2016-02-01 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/ryzkaj/st-ranger-shawn-harris-lets-go-wander-premiere |accessdate=2020-11-22}}</ref> Later that year, to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of '']'', the Matches re-released the album as a double LP; the second disc, titled ''Precomposer'', consisted of ] the band had recorded while writing the album.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Decomposer'' vinyl announcement |publisher=The Matches |work=thematches.com |url=http://www.thematches.com/ |date=2016-06-01 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160608060228/http://www.thematches.com/ |archivedate=2016-06-08 |accessdate=2020-11-22}}</ref> That April they released an animated music video for the ''Decomposer'' song "Little Maggots"; they had begun work on the video in 2006 but left it unfinished.<ref name="Maggots">{{cite web |title=Exclusive! After a Decade, the Matches Finish, Release 'Little Maggots' Video |date=2016-04-04 |publisher=] |work=altpress.com |url=https://www.altpress.com/features/exclusive_after_a_decade_the_matches_finish_release_little_maggots_video/ |accessdate=2020-11-22}}</ref> In May and June the Matches played three shows in Australia and five in the United States, performing ''Decomposer'' in full.<ref name="Maggots"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Ralph |first=Caitlyn |title=The Matches to Play ''Decomposer'' in Full on 10 Year Anniversary Tour |date=2016-02-01 |publisher=] |work=altpress.com |url=https://www.altpress.com/news/the_matches_to_play_decomposer_in_full_on_10_year_tour/ |accessdate=2020-11-22}}</ref> A performance at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles was recorded, and released digitally as the live album ''Recomposer''.{{citation needed}} | |||
===Reunion and tour (2015–present)=== | |||
The band completed an Australian tour in honor of the 10 year anniversary of ''E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/events/730199457060934/?fref=ts|title=THE MATCHES - E VON DAHL KILLED THE LOCALS 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TOUR- MELBOURNE TONIGHT|website=Facebook.com|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref> Later in the year they also released a two-song EP titled "Life of a Match"/"Crucial Comeback (Mary Claire)" and performed two shows at The Fillmore in San Francisco.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://substreammagazine.com/2015/09/premiere-hear-the-matches-first-song-in-six-years-life-of-a-match/|title=PREMIERE: Hear the Matches' first song in six years, "Life Of A Match"|first=Scott|last=Heisel|date=30 September 2015|website=Substreammagazine.com|accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref> On February 1, 2016, the band announced a four-city tour during the summer covering their sophomore album ''Decomposer''. In 2018, the band had further reunion shows to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of their third album, "A Band In Hope." | |||
The band next reconvened in 2018 for the ten year anniversary of '']''.<ref name="A Band in Hope anniversary">{{cite web |title=''A Band in Hope'' 10 Year Anniversary Vinyl Release and Tour! |publisher=The Matches |work=thematches.com |date=2018-03-01 |url=http://www.thematches.com/a-band-in-hope-10-year-anniversary-vinyl-release-and-tour/ |accessdate=2020-11-22}}</ref> As with their previous two records, they re-released the album as a double LP; the second disc, titled ''Don't Shake My Hand with Your Sunglasses On'', collected demos and unreleased tracks associated with the album.<ref name="A Band in Hope anniversary"/> The Matches played six shows in the United States performing ''A Band in Hope'' in full.<ref name="A Band in Hope anniversary"/> Meanwhile, filmmaker Chelsea Christer, who had filmed interviews with the band members to promote their 2014 reunion, expanded upon her footage to create a ] about the band, titled ''Bleeding Audio''.<ref name="Chatterjee">{{cite web |last=Chatterjee |first=Kika |title=There's Going to Be a Documentary About the Matches, and It Looks Awesome |publisher=] |work=altpress.com |url=https://www.altpress.com/news/theres_going_to_be_a_documentary_about_the_matches_and_it_looks_awesome/ |date=2016-06-28 |accessdate=2020-11-22}}</ref> The documentary, which features interviews with ] founder ], Tom Higgenson of ], and ] of ], finished filming in 2016.<ref name="Chatterjee"/> It was screened at several film festivals in 2020.<ref>{{cite web |title=Screenings |publisher=Bleeding Audio |work=bleeding-audio.com |url=https://www.bleeding-audio.com/screenings |accessdate=2020-11-22}}</ref> | |||
==Band members== | |||
===Members=== | |||
*] – ], ] | |||
*Matt Whalen – ] | |||
*Jonathan Devoto – ], ] | |||
*Justin San Souci – ], backing vocals | |||
== |
==Band members== | ||
*Shawn Harris – ], lead ] (1997–2009, 2014–2018) | |||
*Matt Esposito – ], ] (1997–2000) | |||
*Justin San Souci – ], backing vocals (1997–2008, 2014–2018) | |||
*Matt Whalen – ], ] (1997–2009, 2014–2018) | |||
*Henry Dietzel – lead guitar, backing vocals (2000–2001) | |||
*Jonathan Devoto – lead guitar, backing vocals (2001–2009, 2014–2018) | |||
*Dylan Rowe – bass guitar, backing vocals (2008–2009) | *Dylan Rowe – bass guitar, backing vocals (2008–2009) | ||
*Matt Esposito – lead guitar, backing vocals | |||
*Henry Dietzel – lead guitar, backing vocals | |||
==Discography== | ==Discography== | ||
===As the Locals=== | |||
*''Locals'' demo (2000), self-released | |||
*''The Locals'' EP (2001), self-released | |||
===Studio albums=== | ===Studio albums=== | ||
Line 86: | Line 88: | ||
! scope="col" colspan="3"| Peak chart positions | ! scope="col" colspan="3"| Peak chart positions | ||
|- | |- | ||
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em; font-size:90%;"| ]<br><ref name=" |
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em; font-size:90%;"| ]<br><ref name="Chart History-Billboard 200"/> | ||
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em; font-size:90%;"| ]<br><ref name=" |
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em; font-size:90%;"| ]<br><ref name="Chart History-Independent"/> | ||
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em; font-size:90%;"| ]<br><ref name=" |
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em; font-size:90%;"| ]<br><ref name="ARIA"/> | ||
|- | |- | ||
! scope="row"| '']'' | ! scope="row"| '']'' | ||
| | | | ||
* Released: 2003 | * Released: self-released 2003 | ||
* Re-released |
* Re-released May 11, 2004 | ||
* Label: |
* Label: ] (re-release) | ||
* Formats: ], ] |
* Formats: ], ]; ] (2014) | ||
| — || — || — | | — || — || — | ||
|- | |- | ||
Line 102: | Line 104: | ||
* Released: September 11, 2006 | * Released: September 11, 2006 | ||
* Label: Epitaph | * Label: Epitaph | ||
* Formats: CD, |
* Formats: CD, download; LP (2016) | ||
| — || 18 || — | | — || 18 || — | ||
|- | |- | ||
Line 109: | Line 111: | ||
* Released: March 15, 2008 | * Released: March 15, 2008 | ||
* Label: Epitaph | * Label: Epitaph | ||
* Formats: CD, |
* Formats: CD, download; LP (2018) | ||
| 179 || 24 || 99 | | 179 || 24 || 99 | ||
|- | |- | ||
|} | |} | ||
===Compilations=== | |||
*'']'' (August 12, 2009) | |||
===Live albums=== | ===Live albums=== | ||
*''10YearsEVDKTL'' (2014) | *''10YearsEVDKTL'' (2014), self-released | ||
*''Recomposer'' (2016) | *''Recomposer'' (2016), self-released | ||
===Compilation albums=== | |||
*'']'' (August 12, 2009), self-released | |||
===Video albums=== | |||
*'']'' Episode 14: ''Live at the House of Blues'' (July 27, 2004), ] | |||
=== |
===Singles=== | ||
*"You (Don't) Know Me" (from ''Decomposer'') with "You (Don't) Know Me (Strong-Arm Mix)", CD single (2006), Epitaph Records | |||
*'']: Live at the House of Blues'' (July 27, 2004) | |||
*"Salty Eyes" (from ''Decomposer'') with "Here's to Love" and "Salty Eyes" music video, CD single (2007), Epitaph Records | |||
*"Wake the Sun" (from ''A Band in Hope''), CD single (2008), Epitaph Records | |||
*"Life of a Match" b/w "Crucial Comeback Song (Mary Claire)", 7-inch (2015), self-released | |||
=== |
===Other appearances=== | ||
This is not an exhaustive list. Tracks taken from the band's other releases are not included. | |||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
! Year | ! Year | ||
! Album | ! Album | ||
! Contributed track | ! Contributed track(s) | ||
! Label | |||
! Originally from | |||
|- | |- | ||
| 2003 | |||
| |
| '']'' | ||
| "December Is for Cynics" | |||
| ] | |||
| align="left" | No previous release | |||
|- | |- | ||
| 2004 | |||
| align="left" | ''Agent Records Presents the NorCal Compilation 2003'' | |||
| ''Music on the Brain, Volume 1'' | |||
| rowspan="2"| "Audio Blood" | |||
| "]" (originally performed by ]) | |||
| rowspan="2"| ''E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals'' | |||
| Smartpunk Records | |||
|- | |- | ||
| rowspan="2"| |
| rowspan="2"|2005 | ||
| '']'' | |||
| align="left" | ''Warped Tour 2004 Tour Compilation'' | |||
| "Violent Love" (with ]; originally performed by ]) | |||
| ] | |||
|- | |- | ||
| '']'' | |||
| align="left" | '']'' | |||
| "A Girl I Know", "Sick Little Suicide" (acoustic), "Shoot Me in the Smile" (acoustic) | |||
| align="left" | "Chain Me Free" (live) | |||
| ] | |||
| rowspan="2"| No previous release | |||
|- | |- | ||
| 2008 | |||
| rowspan="4"| 2005 | |||
| ''A Foggy Holiday: Carols from the SF Scene, Vol. 2'' | |||
| "Happy New Year" | |||
| align="left" | "Got the Time" | |||
| Talking House Records | |||
|- | |||
| align="left" | ''Warped Tour 2005 Tour Compilation'' | |||
| align="left" | "Dog-Eared Page" | |||
| align="left" | ''E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals'' | |||
|- | |||
| align="left" | '']'' | |||
| align="left" | "Violent Love" (Featuring ]) | |||
| rowspan="3"| No previous release | |||
|- | |||
| align="left" | '']'' | |||
| align="left" | "A Girl I Know", "Sick Little Suicide" (acoustic), "Shoot Me in the Smile" (acoustic) | |||
|- | |||
| rowspan="5"| 2006 | |||
| align="left" | ''Greetings from Norcal - The Northern California Compilation'' | |||
| align="left" | "Didi" | |||
|- | |||
| align="left" | '']'' | |||
| align="left" | "Sick Little Suicide" | |||
| align="left" | ''E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals'' | |||
|- | |||
| align="left" | ''Warped Tour 2006 Tour Compilation'' | |||
| align="left" | "My Soft and Deep" | |||
| rowspan="4"| ''Decomposer'' | |||
|- | |||
| align="left" | '']'' | |||
| align="left" | "Shoot Me in the Smile" | |||
|- | |||
| align="left" | ''Unsound Compilation'' | |||
| rowspan="2"| "Little Maggots" | |||
|- | |||
| rowspan="2"| 2007 | |||
| align="left" | ''Warped Tour 2007 Tour Compilation'' | |||
|- | |||
| align="left" | ''Punk The Clock Volume 3: Property of a Gentleman'' | |||
| align="left" | "Their City" | |||
| rowspan="2"| ''A Band in Hope'' | |||
|- | |||
| rowspan="2"| 2008 | |||
| align="left" | ''Warped Tour 2008 Tour Compilation'' | |||
| align="left" | "Wake the Sun" | |||
|- | |||
| align="left" | ''A Foggy Holiday - Carols From the SF Scene, Vol. 2'' | |||
| align="left" | "Happy New Year" | |||
| align="left" | No previous release | |||
|- | |- | ||
|} | |} | ||
===Guest appearances=== | |||
*] – "Kids Today" (featuring ] and the Matches), on '']'' (2004), ] | |||
*] – "Hot Topic Is Not Punk Rock" (featuring the Matches), on '']'' (2006), Horris Records/] | |||
===Music videos=== | ===Music videos=== | ||
* "Chain Me Free" ( |
* "Chain Me Free" (2004) | ||
* "Papercut Skin" (2006) | * "Papercut Skin" (2006) | ||
* "Salty Eyes" (2007) | * "Salty Eyes" (2007) | ||
* "What Katie Said" (2008){{ref label|Katie|I|}} | |||
* "Wake the Sun" (2008) | * "Wake the Sun" (2008) | ||
* "Yankee in a Chip Shop" (2008) | * "Yankee in a Chip Shop" (2008) | ||
Line 206: | Line 180: | ||
* "Little Maggots" (2016) | * "Little Maggots" (2016) | ||
== |
==Notes== | ||
{{note|Katie|I}} The music video for "What Katie Said" (from ''Decomposer'') was filmed in January 2007, but the production company was unable to complete the visual effects until February 2008, by which time the band was preparing to release ''A Band in Hope'' and so chose not to release the video. The production company released it unoffically.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Matches – "What Katie Said" Music Video (Director's Cut) |publisher=Lady Ransom |work=youtube.com |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAS8MpRhG-4 |date=2008-06-19 |accessdate=2020-11-23}}</ref> | |||
* | |||
* | |||
*{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Line 215: | Line 187: | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
* |
*{{Official|thematches.com}} | ||
*{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} | |||
* | |||
{{The Matches}} | {{The Matches}} | ||
Revision as of 20:58, 23 November 2020
The Matches | |
---|---|
Frontman Shawn Harris performing with the Matches on the 2008 Alternative Press Tour | |
Background information | |
Also known as | The Locals |
Origin | Oakland, California |
Genres | Pop punk, alternative rock |
Years active | 1997–2009, 2014–2018 |
Labels | Epitaph |
Past members |
|
Website | thematches |
The Matches were an American rock band from Oakland, California, active from 1997 to 2009. Formed as the Locals, the group changed their name after five years to avoid conflict with a Chicago band of the same name. As the Matches, they self-released their debut album E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals in 2003, then signed to Epitaph Records who re-released it the following year. Decomposer followed in 2006, seeing the band move from their pop punk roots in a more idiosyncratic direction with contributions from nine different record producers; it reached no. 18 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart. With their third album, A Band in Hope (2008), their sound became even more heavily layered and experimental; it was their only release to chart on the Billboard 200, reaching no. 179.
The band went on hiatus in 2009, releasing a digital album of unreleased songs and demos. Between 2014 and 2018 they reunited several times for shows and tours celebrating the ten year anniversaries of each of their studio albums, resulting in a pair of live albums and a new single.
History
The Locals (1997–2002)
Bishop O'Dowd High School sophomores Matt Esposito (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Justin San Souci (bass guitar, backing vocals) and freshman Matt Whalen (drums, percussion) started the band in 1997. Sophomore Shawn Harris (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) saw them play at the school talent show and soon joined them: "I offered to play second guitar and add some original songs to the mix, and we spent the next four years getting noise complaints from neighbors." The four named their band the Locals. In 2000 they came to the attention of Miles Hurwitz, former assistant publisher of BAM, through his eighth-grade son. He attended one of their practices, later saying that "I saw a spark — talent, vocal charm, hook-tinged material, musical accomplishment and much potential. And much to be improved." Hurwitz, 28 years the bands members' senior, became their manager. He would play a critical role in their career, co-writing their songs with Harris, producing their albums, directing their music videos, and participating in creative decisions including planning the group's image, wardrobe, and photographs. In their later album credits, the band nicknamed him "The Wizard". "Miles kept us together," said Harris in 2008; "We didn't know we could be in a band. We didn't know how to make that jump We'll work with him forever. He's an integral part of our equation."
After graduating, Esposito left the band to attend the United States Naval Academy. He was replaced by Henry Dietzel. The Locals self-released a six-song demo and a three-song EP. The band members took jobs as kitchen hands at historic San Francisco music venue the Fillmore, where they would watch bands perform weekly; Harris worked as cook while Whalen and San Souci were servers, hoping that this would get their band an opportunity to perform there. They took vocal lessons, and Hurwitz expanded their musical palette by having them listen to albums by Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, and Bob Dylan. "He was a history teacher for a while," said Harris; "He made what we were doing seem more important and relevant. Subtly at first and then more and more, that set us apart from the other bands in the genre we play in."
With Dietzel replaced by Jon Devoto, the Locals built up a following in the East Bay. Not readily accepted by the entrenched punk rock scene based around the 924 Gilman Street venue in Berkeley, they instead become popular at Oakland all ages venue iMusicast, where they launched a series of shows called "L3: Live, Loud, and Local". "We could barely play," said Harris in 2016; "like we broke all of our amps at every show, I spent more time crowd surfing than playing my guitar. I couldn't really tell you how to play a power chord at the time; we barely could play. But we put on this show that people came to and they freaked out, so I started focusing on lyrics and making songs have more substantial content." They engaged in what they called "commo promo" tactics (short for "commotion promotion"), playing brief, unannounced acoustic sets outside schools, dormitories, shopping malls, restaurants, and music venues such as Slim's. They would go to local high schools, enter classes that were in session, toss stacks of flyers in the air, and run through the halls strumming their guitars and singing their songs until they were chased off campus. These tactics were successful in drawing hundreds of young fans to their shows. "We didn't mean to start a completely different scene," recalled Harris a few years later, "but we ended up doing so. While I love punk rock, I also don't love punk rock. I think it's just as much of a dick as it is a savior. I love Bad Religion and Rancid and Green Day, but I'm not gonna throw my fist up in the air for the institution of punk rock."
In late 2002 the group was contacted by a Chicago band also called the Locals, led by frontwoman Yvonne Doll, threatening a copyright infringement lawsuit if they did not change their name. They complied, renaming themselves the Matches.
E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals (2003–2005)
The Matches recorded their debut album, E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals, in a series of basements and living rooms and self-released it in February 2003. The title was a tongue-in-cheek reference to Yvonne Doll and the band's forced name change. Harris and San Souci created the album's artwork (Harris also co-designed the artwork for Earlimart's 2004 album Treble & Tremble). Through self-promotion and performances with bands including Reel Big Fish, Lit, and Zebrahead, the Matches gained attention for their energetic live shows and sold over 4,000 copies of the album without the support of a record label. A show at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California on October 21, 2003 was filmed, and released the following July as part of Kung Fu Records' live concert DVD series The Show Must Go Off! The band contributed the song "December Is for Cynics" to the compilation A Santa Cause: It's a Punk Rock Christmas, released in November 2003.
By year's end, the Matches had signed to Epitaph Records. The label had E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals re-mixed by Joe Barresi and re-released it in May 2004 with a slightly altered track list. The Matches performed on that summer's Warped Tour, which they would repeat in the three subsequent years. They appeared, along with the A.K.A.s, as guests on the Dwarves track "Kids Today" on the compilation Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2, released in August 2004. That November, a music video was released for the song "Chain Me Free", and the band went on tour opening for Yellowcard.
At this time, the Matches' music was rooted in pop punk. Reviewing the re-release of E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals, Rolling Stone remarked that the band "join the long list of punk-pop bands that have made their clichéd mark on today's music scene" and "wear the influences of Green Day and Rancid proudly." The Dallas Observer called it "an energetic romp through the same ideas lots of pop-punk bands romp through: broken relationships, boredom, depression, the lure of the road", while AllMusic remarked that the band was "young enough not to raise eyebrows at the punk-pop kiddie park. But they have a better grasp of dynamics than much of their peer group".
The Matches teamed up with Zebrahead for a cover version of Oingo Boingo's rendition of the Willie Dixon song "Violent Love", released in May 2005 on Dead Bands Party: A Tribute to Oingo Boingo. That July saw the release of Takeover Records 3-Way Issue No. 2, a split album which they shared with Near Miss and Reeve Oliver, with each band contributing three tracks. Harris and San Souci created the artwork for the album (they would later co-create the artwork for Newbury Park group Stole Your Woman's 2007 album The Scene). The Matches played the Warped Tour again that summer. Harris began illustrating with Melbourne-based artist Emilee Seymour; together they formed the design firm Oxen, creating the artwork for the next two Matches albums as well as for Epitaph labelmates Matchbook Romance's 2006 album Voices.
Decomposer and A Band in Hope (2006–2008)
The Matches made a guest appearance on MC Lars's album The Graduate, released in March 2006, performing on the track "Hot Topic Is Not Punk Rock". After a stint on that year's Warped Tour, their second album, Decomposer, was released on Epitaph that September. The album was recorded at various studios with nine different producers, including Hurwitz, Matt Rad, Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Tim Armstrong of Rancid, Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, Nick Hexum of 311, and John Feldmann of Goldfinger. It built on their prior pop punk sound, adding idiosyncratic elements of pop, rock, punk, and electronics. Singles were released for the songs "You (Don't) Know Me" and "Salty Eyes", and music videos for "Papercut Skin" and "Salty Eyes". Hurwitz directed and came up with the concept for the "Salty Eyes" video, an homage to the D. A. Pennebaker film Dont Look Back (1967), in which Bob Dylan's song "Subterranean Homesick Blues" plays while Dylan holds up and discards cue cards with selected words and phrases from the lyrics; in their video, the Matches replaced the cue cards with old television sets, creating a chaotic scene. A few weeks after its release, Decomposer peaked at number 18 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart. Extensive touring followed: By March 2008, the Matches had done four tours of Australia (including that year's Soundwave festival), seven of Europe (including their first headlining club tour of the United Kingdom), and three Warped Tours.
Their third album, A Band in Hope, was released in March 2008, and the band embarked on that spring's Alternative Press Tour with All Time Low, The Rocket Summer, and Forever the Sickest Kids to support it. The album found the band moving further away from pop punk, incorporating elements of album-oriented rock, mainstream Top 40 paradigms, and alternative rock. The San Francisco Chronicle called it "a tidy mass of musical ideas — metal, glam and punk all mingle, lots of vocals, textured, carefully layered sound, sometimes like a pocket-size Queen." An AllMusic review also drew a comparison to Queen, as well as to Andrew Lloyd Webber, saying "the Matches don't seem to know exactly what they're doing big chunks of A Band in Hope are almost shockingly unexpected, verging at times on just plain weird." Reflecting on the album a year and half later, Harris remarked that "on Decomposer and A Band in Hope, we played around with a lot of studio tricks—especially Decomposer, which was us learning about a bunch of studio tricks. And then on A Band in Hope, we got carried away a number of times." "Wake the Sun" was released as the album's single, and music videos were released for it and "Yankee in a Chip Shop". According to Harris, Epitaph did not expect the album to perform well commercially, but opted to release it anyway. It ultimately reached number 24 on the Independent Albums chart, number 179 on the Billboard 200, and number 99 on Australia's ARIA Charts.
Hiatus and album 4 (2009–2013)
–Shawn Harris in 2009There was this thread going through the Matches like, "Hey, guys, let's do what popular people do." And somehow, the Matches were so much about not doing that, you know? And even in the sub-culture of the Warped Tour scene that the Matches existed in, we were not even doing it the way that they did it. And they weren’t even the main pop culture. It wasn't fun to think about the Matches in that sense, and when we attempted it, it didn't feel genuine to me—it didn't feel right.
Founding bassist Justin San Souci left the Matches in July 2008; he went on to become a concept artist for a video game company. He was replaced by Dylan Rowe, who toured with the band that fall. Creative differences were forming between the band members: A year later, lead guitarist Jon Devoto stated that he had wanted the band's new music to be "a little more straightforward. A little bit less quirky, indefinable. I want to keep the element of cleverness to a certain point, because that was one of the best points about us, our cleverness and all that. But there was also a point where every song was completely different and I think we lost a lot of opportunities with that." Harris stated that "There were really conflicting views within the band as to what the direction should be. For me, the direction has always been, 'Well, I wanna do what is fun when it comes to music and hopefully other people find what I find fun and enjoyable also fun and enjoyable.' There were definitely heated debates over, first off, how commercial a song should be, and second off, over what makes a song commercial in the first place." Their recording contract with Epitaph fulfilled, the band began writing and recording demos for a potential fourth album, but found these differences difficult to overcome. Harris later reflected:
We got really ambitious, and part of that paid off in a great way, because we were really creative, and we experimented with all types of music and different producers and became this weird, arty pop-punk band. But at the same time, we got wrapped up in : "You need to play for more people, you need to play for more people, you need to play for more people. You need to impress promoters." We tried to be bigger than we should've been. When I look at the appeal of the band originally—being this sort of homespun, DIY pop-punk band who put on their own shows and make their own clothes—we were like your friend's band, but your friend's good band. Our fans liked being around us. As things progressed, there was more of a separation between us as performers and our fans. Even the sound of the music became less like you're talking to your friends and more sort of ambitiously epic, maybe. I think we always retained that conversational style, but it was really all we were at the beginning. I'm not saying we lost that completely, but it got swept up in us trying to be a bigger band. I think the appeal for our band might've been that we were your friend's band.
Hurwitz sent the band's new demos out to major record labels, attempting to get them a new recording contract, but the labels wanted them to alter the songs to make them more marketable. "There seemed to be some kind of core ideology that was sort of at risked of being compromised from within and without", said Harris, who at the same time had begun working on a new musical project with Jake Grigg of Australian band Something with Numbers. Devoto, meanwhile, had been working on his own material which Hurwitz helped him develop into an acoustic project. Additionally, the impact of the Great Recession affected the band's ability to tour: with their extensive touring schedules, they would stay with friends or with their parents when home, but as fuel prices and other costs increased, they could no longer break even on tours and were starting to accrue debt. They decided to stay home and record, and only tour when it would be lucrative, but such opportunities became fewer and further between. "So we were home longer and longer," said Harris, "which meant we were homeless longer and longer or crashing at our parents' longer and longer."
The Matches announced a hiatus on July 9, 2009. On August 12, they released a collection of their most recent demos and unreleased songs digitally as as the Matches Album 4, Unreleased; Graphics? Title? Or Not Needed?; the title was the subject line of an email from Hurwitz asking about the proposed album. "The album name is basically making fun of our manager's verbose e-mails", said Harris; " was just the subject header , and it had all these semicolons and like a four-way conjunction, so we just sent back the shortest e-mail saying, 'That's the title.' He tried to get us to change it a number of times, but we were like, 'Nope. That’s it.'" The band played a pair of sold out farewell shows on August 22 at the Troubadour in West Hollywood and August 23 at the the Fillmore in San Francisco. Harris said of the latter that "the final show was I think the Matches' best show. We sold out the Fillmore which is where I used to make nachos as a kid—it was one of my first jobs. It was a really weird, full-circle vindication of a dream. It was a really nice goodbye."
With the Matches on hiatus, Devoto fleshed out his acoustic project into a full band called Bird by Bird, while Harris and Grigg named their project Maniac. Between 2010 and 2011 Bird by Bird released two EPs and one album, while Maniac released one EP and one album. Harris then started a new project, Fortress Social Club, who released two albums and an EP in 2013. Harris also continued to work as a visual artist, contributing to the album artwork of Bayside's Shudder (2008) and Milo Greene's Milo Greene (2012) and Control (2015).
Reunions (2014–2018)
In January of 2014, Shawn Harris, Justin San Souci, Matt Whalen, and Jon Devoto met while all were back in Oakland. Their licensing deal with Epitaph Records for E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals had expired, so they decided to re-release it themselves as an LP record (the original releases had been in compact disc format) to coincide with the ten-year anniversary of the Epitaph release. They began teasing the release through social media, prompting inquiries and demand for a reunion concert. That May, they announced a one-time reunion show to take place in November at Slim's in San Francisco. It sold out immediately, as did a second date added at Slim's and a third at the Great American Music Hall. Due to the unexpected demand, further reunion shows were added in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. The re-release of E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals came out that September as a two-disc package, including both the original self-released version of the album and the re-mixed Epitaph version. The band ended up performing nine sold out shows in the United States, playing the album in its entirety as well as some later songs. Two performances at the Troubadour in Los Angeles were recorded, and released as the live album 10YearsEVDKTL in December. This was followed by a five-date tour of Australia in January 2015.
In October 2015 the Matches released a new single, "Life of a Match", with "Crucial Comeback Song (Mary Claire)" as the B-side. Harris and San Souci created the artwork for the single. A music video for "Life of a Match" was released, consisting of snippets of other bands' music videos as well as the Matches' own past ones. The band played two shows at the Fillmore that December. Harris started a solo surf rock project called St. Ranger, releasing the album Leaves L.A. in February 2016. Later that year, to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of Decomposer, the Matches re-released the album as a double LP; the second disc, titled Precomposer, consisted of demos the band had recorded while writing the album. That April they released an animated music video for the Decomposer song "Little Maggots"; they had begun work on the video in 2006 but left it unfinished. In May and June the Matches played three shows in Australia and five in the United States, performing Decomposer in full. A performance at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles was recorded, and released digitally as the live album Recomposer.
The band next reconvened in 2018 for the ten year anniversary of A Band in Hope. As with their previous two records, they re-released the album as a double LP; the second disc, titled Don't Shake My Hand with Your Sunglasses On, collected demos and unreleased tracks associated with the album. The Matches played six shows in the United States performing A Band in Hope in full. Meanwhile, filmmaker Chelsea Christer, who had filmed interviews with the band members to promote their 2014 reunion, expanded upon her footage to create a documentary film about the band, titled Bleeding Audio. The documentary, which features interviews with Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, Tom Higgenson of Plain White T's, and Justin Pierre of Motion City Soundtrack, finished filming in 2016. It was screened at several film festivals in 2020.
Band members
- Shawn Harris – rhythm guitar, lead vocals (1997–2009, 2014–2018)
- Matt Esposito – lead guitar, backing vocals (1997–2000)
- Justin San Souci – bass guitar, backing vocals (1997–2008, 2014–2018)
- Matt Whalen – drums, percussion (1997–2009, 2014–2018)
- Henry Dietzel – lead guitar, backing vocals (2000–2001)
- Jonathan Devoto – lead guitar, backing vocals (2001–2009, 2014–2018)
- Dylan Rowe – bass guitar, backing vocals (2008–2009)
Discography
As the Locals
- Locals demo (2000), self-released
- The Locals EP (2001), self-released
Studio albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
US |
US Ind. |
AUS | ||
E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals | — | — | — | |
Decomposer |
|
— | 18 | — |
A Band in Hope |
|
179 | 24 | 99 |
Live albums
- 10YearsEVDKTL (2014), self-released
- Recomposer (2016), self-released
Compilation albums
- The Matches Album 4, Unreleased; Graphics? Title? Or Not Needed? (August 12, 2009), self-released
Video albums
- The Show Must Go Off! Episode 14: Live at the House of Blues (July 27, 2004), Kung Fu Films
Singles
- "You (Don't) Know Me" (from Decomposer) with "You (Don't) Know Me (Strong-Arm Mix)", CD single (2006), Epitaph Records
- "Salty Eyes" (from Decomposer) with "Here's to Love" and "Salty Eyes" music video, CD single (2007), Epitaph Records
- "Wake the Sun" (from A Band in Hope), CD single (2008), Epitaph Records
- "Life of a Match" b/w "Crucial Comeback Song (Mary Claire)", 7-inch (2015), self-released
Other appearances
This is not an exhaustive list. Tracks taken from the band's other releases are not included.
Year | Album | Contributed track(s) | Label |
---|---|---|---|
2003 | A Santa Cause: It's a Punk Rock Christmas | "December Is for Cynics" | Immortal Records |
2004 | Music on the Brain, Volume 1 | "Got the Time" (originally performed by Joe Jackson) | Smartpunk Records |
2005 | Dead Bands Party: A Tribute to Oingo Boingo | "Violent Love" (with Zebrahead; originally performed by Willie Dixon) | Indianola Records |
Takeover Records 3-Way Issue No. 2 | "A Girl I Know", "Sick Little Suicide" (acoustic), "Shoot Me in the Smile" (acoustic) | Takeover Records | |
2008 | A Foggy Holiday: Carols from the SF Scene, Vol. 2 | "Happy New Year" | Talking House Records |
Guest appearances
- Dwarves – "Kids Today" (featuring the A.K.A.s and the Matches), on Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2 (2004), Fat Wreck Chords
- MC Lars – "Hot Topic Is Not Punk Rock" (featuring the Matches), on The Graduate (2006), Horris Records/Nettwerk
Music videos
- "Chain Me Free" (2004)
- "Papercut Skin" (2006)
- "Salty Eyes" (2007)
- "What Katie Said" (2008)
- "Wake the Sun" (2008)
- "Yankee in a Chip Shop" (2008)
- "Life of a Match" (2015)
- "Little Maggots" (2016)
Notes
^I The music video for "What Katie Said" (from Decomposer) was filmed in January 2007, but the production company was unable to complete the visual effects until February 2008, by which time the band was preparing to release A Band in Hope and so chose not to release the video. The production company released it unoffically.
References
- ^ Selvin, Joel (2008-03-26). "A Svengali Tends the Red-Hot Matches' Flame". sfgate.com. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
- ^ Wood, Mikael (2004-11-18). "Strike It Up". dallasobserver.com. Dallas Observer. Archived from the original on 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- ^ Vigil, Delfin (2008-06-12). "Bandwidth: The Matches". sfgate.com. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
- ^ Apar, Corey. "The Matches Biography". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- "Out of This World". Mitre. 44. Bishop O'Dowd High School: 45, 51, 54. 1998. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
- "Out of This World", p. 51.
- ^ Hill, John (2016-05-31). "This Is How You Bleed in Audio: A Conversation with Shawn Harris of the Matches". vice.com. Vice. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- ^ Loftus, Johnny. "Review: E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals (CD liner notes). The Matches. Los Angeles: Epitaph Records. 2004. 86699-2.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - Treble & Tremble (CD liner notes). Earlimart. New York: Palm Pictures. 2004. PALMCD 2135.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - "The Matches – The Show Must Go Off!, Vol. 14". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- Wilson, MacKenzie. "Review: A Santa Cause: It's a Punk Rock Christmas". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- "Epitaph Signs the Matches". Punknews.org. 2003. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- Deming, Mark. "Review: Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- "The Matches Brand New Video 'Chain Me Free' Online". epitaph.com. Epitaph Records. 2004-11-17. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- ^ Apar, Corey. "Review: Decomposer". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- Farinella, David John (2004-05-17). "New CDs: Morrissey, Alanis". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2008-06-21. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- "Dead Bands Party: A Tribute to Oingo Boingo". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- Luerssen, John D. "Review: Takeover Records 3 Way, Issue #2". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- Takeover Records 3-Way Issue No. 2 (CD liner notes). Near Miss, Reeve Oliver, The Matches. Santa Monica, California: Takeover Records. 2005. TAK 006.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - The Scene (CD liner notes). Stole Your Woman. Long Beach, California: Takeover Records. 2007. 86699-2.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - "Oxen: 8th Annual Program – Album IMA Vox Populi Winner". independentmusicawards.com. Independent Music Awards. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
- "Fans Elect New Winners in 8th Annual Independent Music Awards Vox Populi Poll". independentmusicawards.com. Independent Music Awards. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
- Decomposer (CD liner notes). The Matches. Los Angeles: Epitaph Records. 2006. 86815-2.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - "The Matches – Decomposer: Credits". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
- A Band in Hope (CD liner notes). The Matches. Los Angeles: Epitaph Records. 2008. 86938-2.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - "The Matches – A Band in Hope: Credits". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
- Voices (CD liner notes). Matchbook Romance. Los Angeles: Epitaph Records. 2006. 86774-2.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - "Matchbook Romance – Voices: Credits". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
- "Review: The Graduate". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- ^ "The Matches Chart History: Independent Albums". billboard.com. Billboard. Archived from the original on 2016-08-10. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- ^ Mason, Stewart. "Review: A Band in Hope". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- ^ Lux, Rachel (2009-09-11). "Shawn Harris on the End of the Matches and the Beginning of Maniac". altpress.com. Alternative Press. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- ^ "The Matches Chart History: Billboard 200". billboard.com. Billboard. Archived from the original on 2016-08-10. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- ^ "ARIA Report: Week Commencing 24th March 2008" (PDF) (943). Australian Recording Industry Association. 2008-03-24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-04-23. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - "Justin Leaves the Matches". absolutepunk.net. AbsolutePunk. 2008-07-09. Archived from the original on 2012-07-21. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- ^ Heisel, Scott (2014-08-13). "'Honestly, We Had No Idea People Would Give a Sh*t' – The Matches' Shawn Harris on Their Reunion". altpress.com. Alternative Press. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- Mohtasham, Saba (2008-10-26). "Weekend Review". Daily Bruin. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- ^ Lux, Rachel (2009-09-01). "Jon Devoto on the End of the Matches and the Beginning of Bird by Bird". altpress.com. Alternative Press. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- Luerssen, John D. (2013-12-31). "Fortress Social Club Rock a House Party – Premiere". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
- Shudder (CD liner notes). Bayside. Chicago: Victory Records. 2008. VR 457.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - "Bayside – Shudder: Credits". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
- Milo Greene (CD liner notes). Milo Greene. New York: Atlantic Records. 2012. 531469-2.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - "Milo Greene – Milo Greene: Credits". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
- Control (CD liner notes). Milo Greene. New York: Elektra Records. 2015. 546107-1.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - "Milo Greene – Control: Credits". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
- ^ Crane, Matt (2014-07-02). "Watch the Matches Discuss Their E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals Vinyl". altpress.com. Alternative Press. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- Crane, Matt (2014-05-12). "Exclusive: The Matches Announce E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals 10-Year Anniversary Show". altpress.com. Alternative Press. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- ^ "10YearsEVDKTL". thematches.bandcamp.com. Bandcamp. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- "The Matches Announce Australian Tour – January 2015". lifemusicmedia.com. Life Music Media. 2014-09-19. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- ^ "Brand New Music + San Francisco Shows!". thematches.com. The Matches. 2015-10-01. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- ^ "The Matches Take a Look Back on the Scene in 'Life of a Match' Video (Exclusive)". altpress.com. Alternative Press. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- Life of a Match / Crucial Comeback Song (Mary Claire) (record sleeve). The Matches. The Matches. 2015.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - Hill, John (2016-02-01). "St. Ranger Rides a Great American Wave in 'Let's Go Wander'". vice.com. Vice. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- "Decomposer vinyl announcement". thematches.com. The Matches. 2016-06-01. Archived from the original on 2016-06-08. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- ^ "Exclusive! After a Decade, the Matches Finish, Release 'Little Maggots' Video". altpress.com. Alternative Press. 2016-04-04. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- Ralph, Caitlyn (2016-02-01). "The Matches to Play Decomposer in Full on 10 Year Anniversary Tour". altpress.com. Alternative Press. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- ^ "A Band in Hope 10 Year Anniversary Vinyl Release and Tour!". thematches.com. The Matches. 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- ^ Chatterjee, Kika (2016-06-28). "There's Going to Be a Documentary About the Matches, and It Looks Awesome". altpress.com. Alternative Press. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- "Screenings". bleeding-audio.com. Bleeding Audio. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- "The Matches – "What Katie Said" Music Video (Director's Cut)". youtube.com. Lady Ransom. 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2020-11-23.