By Ryan Broderick

The Matches made a sizable splash with their first release in 2004 “E. Von Dahl Killed The Locals.” It was a straightforward, jumpy, catchy pop punk album with little in the way of new ideas. The follow-up was 2006’s “Decomposer,” and while much of the album used their old sound as simply a starting point, it still was pretty cut and dry fast pop punk.

“A Band In Hope,” the group’s newest effort is probably not what anyone expected. The first track sets the band’s newest musical attitude and it’s definitely very different.

The 14-track monster album is out of the ordinary to say the least. The whole record has a very classic 70s feel and every track takes risks that slap every pop punk/emo notion in the face. “A Band In Hope” is probably the most innovative and riskiest album to come out from a band in a very long time.

Risks though, aren’t always a good thing. The album constantly shifts between minimalist over-produced sound collages and heavy straightforward rock songs. This unfortunately creates rifts and lulls that very often pull the listener right out. Track four, “Darkness Rising”, is boring, tiresome and sadly ruins the opening chunk of album, but it quickly picks up.

Throughout everything the instrumentation is smart and slick and creates a surprisingly original sound from a band with a track record not especially known for originality. Lead singer Shawn Harris, though, is the real star of the record. Lyrically and vocally he pulls off things that push the role of front man to the point of Freddie Mercury levels of power.

“A Band In Hope” is bombastic, ethereal and hard and pushes the definitions of genre to the brink. For that it deserves a lot of praise. What it lacks is a focus and maybe that’s why the gems of the album shine so brightly. What it has done though, is create a precedent that many bands in their tier of music are going to have a tough time topping.

(purevolume.com)