Matchbook Romance – West For Wishing

After Drive-Thru Records passed up the opportunity to sign up these guys, Brett Guerewitz jumped at the chance. Signing them onto Epitaph Records with only 6 songs under their name, and never seeing them perform live, Brett made a smart choice. With their debut release, West For Wishing, Matchbook Romance have been getting press all over the place (with a lot of help from Lance Brown). They have graced the front page of multiple punk sites, and many articles (including a recent one in Alternative Press magazine with The Ataris on the cover). The band has a steady pop-punk flow, mixing up some screams along with a soft emo feel as well. They open the album with the shortest song, 14 Balloons. It starts off with a steady rhythm with a drum roll after each segment of vocals. Unfortunately, I think they need a more harsher vocal sound for that rhythm for it to fit in really well. They soon do that, with a powerful scream they change the rhythm a bit slower for the final verse (the second one). This time the vocals match it much better and sounds really well. They end it off with the beat picking up and getting louder then a sudden drop.

The Greatest Fall (Of All Time) is the most popular song, and has good reason to be. (Hear a MP3 of it here). Starting off slowly with a bass tune that almost sounds like a piano. The song is a slower one then the previous, more pop-punk. But still mixing up some screaming vocals for the chorus with sounds wonderful. The chorus is a powerful portion of the song with smoother, softer verses. A nice mix of sounds that is done effectively, at all times during this song the vocals have the right feel for the music. Hollywood & Vine is next and it is a good song. A heavy sound with harsh guitar beats. Once again there are a couple screams mixed in there for your enjoyment. One thing that I feel is wrong in this song is at times the vocals don’t sound right, they should be scratchy (in my mind), but other times they match perfectly with it.

Farewell To Friends comes in next on the 4th track. This is one of my favorites. It is a jumpy feel to it, with emotional vocals. Throughout the whole song the vocal sound are a spectacular match to the sound. The beat is indescribable. The timing of everything is perfect. You just have to listen to understand. The final song is Save Yourself, this is once again another one of my favorites on the album. Screaming vocals are once again added to the song at key moments to make the song complete. The lyrics are catchy and are implanted into your memory the first time you hear it. Two minutes in it all goes soft with a steady guitar beat and a constant taping at the cymbals, with some whispering vocals along. It slows it down and gets your attention, a very good tactic.

Overall, I like this EP. A couple places I feel the vocals should sound different to fit with the sound of it all, but it is done quite well. Definitely not one of my all time favorite but one which will give me enjoyment for a while.