Matchbook Romance - 'Voices' (Epitaph) Released 13/02/06

Since 1997, some serious shit’s been going down in the New York township of Poughkeepsie, and it’s starting to get ugly; largely unbeknown to the rest of the world, local rockers Matchbook Romance have been quietly living and breathing the DIY ethos that we thought had been consigned to the hinterlands of pre-MTV rock n’ roll history, and in doing so they’ve been making quite a name for themselves stateside. Indeed the attention currently being lavished upon Matchbook Romance is solely down to the this band’s uncompromising reliance on talent, integrity and good old fashioned hard graft, and as they prove with their new album Voices, the music really does speak for itself. Ooh. Controversial.

A superb follow-up to 2003’s 'Stories & Alibis', 'Voices' mercilessly lashes together the best bits from punk, metal, hardcore and virtually every other corner of the rock n’ roll spectrum to create one king hell behemoth of an offering that rocks like nothing on earth from start to finish. This is an unpredictable selection of tracks, each one busting with intelligence and aggression, while incorporating a vast array of musical influences from guitar chops that James Hetfield would be proud of (‘My Mannequin Can Dance’) to beautifully layered emo melodies and exquisite lyrical tenderness (‘I Wish You Were Here’, ‘Say it Like You Mean It’). Voices veers perfectly between saccharine, piano-driven introspection and brain-damagingly heavy slabs of out and out guitar abuse, by way of the straightforward punk snarl superbly showcased on songs like ‘Fiction’.  And we like it.

Emo this may be, but it’s obvious that this isn’t quite your polished Jimmy Eat World or My Chemical Romance stuff – no sir, if this is indeed emo then it’s a new breed. Emotional, damn right it is, painfully so in places, but it’s ****ing hardcore to boot. Packed with powerful, angular riffs overlaid with gorgeous vocal melodies and ludicrously punchy choruses, this album demonstrates a musical dexterity and originality that makes these guys stand out as something pretty special. Indeed, it’s very possible that Matchbook Romance’s Voices may well be the best new rock album you buy this year. Bloody excellent.