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The Matches:
E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals
Anyone that has ever produced a work of creativity has invariably looked back on something theyve done years later and been mortified by the results. The best thing that one can hope for in such a situation is that there are enough bright spots in their craft and that theyve been intelligent enough to notice, exploit, and improve upon them. It would be unsurprising if five years from now Oaklands The Matches are having a similar experience, given their debut release E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals. The northern California unit should be commended for doing what few only dream of, namely producing their own full-length album. Their do-it-yourself attitude in a world full of corporate-constructed, pop bands that spew paint-by-numbers rock-and-roll music would be commendable if they werent, in turn, producing the same safe, bland, marketable tripe. On this, their debut album, The Matches self-described post-pop-punk sound feels eerily similar to [insert flavor-of-the-week pop-punk band here] crossed with hackneyed Third Eye Blind, which, may in fact, be a bit redundant on this reviewers part. The vast majority of their songs would feel at home on the soundtrack of any nauseatingly trite, teen, gross-out comedy. The album, on the whole, lacks the wit, introspection, and musical craftsmanship of more interesting bands that could fall in the punk-pop genre, such as Weezer. The band clearly plays to a young audience one that I suspect is filled with a lot of adolescent boys who might think that lines like, Shes a can of mixed nuts with a damn nice butt from the track Eryn Smith, are terribly witty. In fact, there is such a preponderance of bad writing from the line, hiding from the asshole sun on the archetypal teen-anthem The Restless to the clich-ridden Superman:
I am Superman with you This makes one begin to wonder whether there are any bright spots on this effort, as well as why someone cant write a song about a superhero that isnt the man of steel? Cmon, wouldnt you just love someone to break the mold and pen a song about Plastic Man, The Flaming Carrot, or hell, even the Wonder Twins? Even with all the notably bad points on E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals, and there are quite a few, the one thing that is evident from the track, Sick Little Suicide, is that there is some potential here. This track seems to break, and thankfully so, from the mindless pop-punk rants of the previous songs. Sick Little Suicide is a dark, powerful, morality tale of a song about our various addictions and how destructive we can be to one another and ourselves. It is surprisingly ambitious and thought provoking given the material preceding it. This song, which coincidently enough had the most songwriters inside and outside the band associated with it, has something to say. That is a lot more than the other ten cuts on this disc can attest to. If all you care about is a catchy song that requires zero thought on your part, by all means, go ahead and pick yourself up a copy of E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals; its loaded with them. But if you prefer something with a bit more substance, look elsewhere for now. You might want to keep checking back with this band occasionally though, as they may decide to take their own advice in Sick Little Suicide to heart.
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