The Matches are an American rock band from Oakland, California, initially 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, which 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 Billboards 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 previously unreleased songs, previously released B-sides and bonus tracks, and demos. Since 2014 they have reunited several times for shows and tours celebrating the ten-year anniversaries of each of their studio albums, resulting in three live albums and a new single. A documentary film about the band, titled Bleeding Audio, premiered at film festivals in 2020.
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. These tactics were successful in drawing hundreds of young fans to their shows. 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. 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 that cut "Superman" and replaced it with two new tracks "Borderline Creep" and "More Than Local Boys". The Matches performed on that summer's Warped Tour, which they would repeat in the three subsequent years. 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". 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.
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. 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. 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. 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.