My love for The Matches was first sparked by their debut album E. Von Dahl Killed The Locals. It was one of the first pop punk albums that truly felt personal to me in a significant way– as I wrote earlier this year when reviewing the album:
There was a point in high school where The Matches were my favorite band in the world, hard stop, no doubt about it. I loved the fact that they were a local band (they hailed from Oakland, CA), I loved the fact that their live show was absolutely electric (I had the chance to catch them multiple times, including once with the Plain White T’s), and I loved how they took the classic pop punk tropes and sort of flipped them on their head just a bit to give their sound a little bit of an experimental flair while still remaining within the confines of the genre (a trend that would see them branch out even more creatively in subsequent albums).
That line I teased about branching out creatively in subsequent albums is absolutely referring to Decomposer, one of the most imaginative pop punk records I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. What The Matches teased out on E. Von Dahl they fully committed to on Decomposer, infusing elements of glam rock, avant-garde, prog rock, and art rock into their pop punk bedrock. Lead singer Shawn Harris’ bars are poetic and authentic, littered with numerous tongue-twisters that delight the brain cells (“If I’m the sum of all my friends, then all my friends are some of me / And if you’re some way just like them, then I am you to some degree” from “You (Don’t) Know Me” as an example), the criminally underrated guitar work of Jonathan Devoto is constantly catching you off guard with its subtle brilliance (like how he does his best pop punk Eddie Van Halen meets Queen’s Brian May impersonation on “Didi My Doe part 2”), and the absolutely shredding bass lines of Justin San Souci merged with Matt Whalen’s furious drum patterns (that bridge section of “Little Maggots” gets me hyped every single time, and it’s also hard to beat the verses in “What Katie Said”).
Put another way, Decomposer saw the band operating at the height of their powers, both creatively as well as melodically. A lot of that has to do with the sheer number of producers they brought in to work on their eclectic masterpiece– over nine producers lent their hand to the formation of this album, including heavy hitters like Mark Hoppus (Blink-182), Tim Armstrong (Rancid), Brett Gurewitz (Bad Religion), and John Feldmann (Goldfinger). And while I’ll always love E. Von Dahl Killed The Locals the most out of their releases due to the nostalgic factor, objectively it’s pretty clear that Decomposer is their best album by a pretty wide margin and one that effectively defines the sound and style of The Matches for me.
On a final note– I had the opportunity to catch The Matches live last weekend at a 20-year reunion show for their aforementioned debut album. The band has been broken up for over 15 years now (they disbanded in 2009) and sometimes these reunion shows can feel a bit tired, but a few things were abundantly clear last Saturday night: 1) The Matches are still Bay Area legends, with a passionately dedicated fanbase that turned out with incredible energy to see them play and was singing along with every word 2) The band clearly spent some time in the shop rehearsing ahead of the show– they sounded like they were still a touring band, with a tight rhythm section and brilliant interplay between all the members on stage 3) They know their demographic– no one in the house was under the age of 32 years old, and as a result their lead guitarist Jonathan Devoto (who is now a personal fitness instructor) led the entire crowd in a group stretch exercise in the middle of the show. It was a hilarious moment that showcased why the band’s sense of humor and originality still resonates with so many folks even over a decade since they decided to officially part ways.
Standout Songs: “Salty Eyes”, “Papercut Skin”, “Little Maggots”, “What Katie Said”, “Sunburn Vs. Rhinovirus”, “Didi (My Doe part 2)”, “You (Don’t) Know Me”, “The Barbers Unhappiness”
