'I wanted to create new dynamics, I wanted to mimic an orchestra,' Jordan explains. Which, says Jordan, was all part of the vibe that Matchbook Romance spent so long trying to conjure. Though distorted, muscular major chords are still present on VOICES, the songs they recorded at Longview Farms Studios (an honest-to-goodness barn in rural Massachusetts that's rumored to be haunted and keeps horses on the facility) contain a sort of cinematic yearning that was only hinted at on Stories And Alibis. One significant factor, as Jordan puts it poetically, is that they 'declared war on power chords.' Matchbook Romance knew their next record would have to stand apart and the material they had begun self-recording while out on the road behind Stories And Alibis - all of it decidedly more sparse, moody and meditative- was significantly removed from the sound they honed on their debut. If you were to have walked into the back lounge during one of the many tours behind Stories And Alibis chances are the mirrored walls in their tour bus would have been covered with ideas for lyrics and ideas for new songs. In between, Stories And Alibis sold over 200,000 copies and the band absolutely lived on the road in support of it.Īs Matchbook Romance began writing the initial version of what would become their second album, VOICES, they began to take their musical ideas to a variety of new levels. The album's list of successes now speaks for itself: following its late 2003 release came the video for 'My Eyes Burn,' a run on the cover of scene bible Alternative Press and a slot headlining the first-ever Epitaph Tour.

Gurewitz also produced their first real recording, the West For Wishing EP, in 2003, but it was Matchbook Romance's debut, Stories And Alibis, that the world would really take to. Matchbook Romance spent the next six months recording a group of demos that would attract the attention of Epitaph president Brett Gurewitz' - a man who would later sign the relatively green band (literally the day before stepping on a plane to finalize contracts with the longstanding punk label, the band's then-18-year-old drummer Aaron Stern graduated from high school). We always thought, 'What are our chances?' Still, people believed in the band - their friends, families and peers- and they encouraged Matchbook Romance's just-stepping-into-the-world rank and file to drop their impending classes at various community colleges in and around Poughkeepsie, NY that fall, in order to concentrate on the band. 'We had seen so many other bands try and reach for that place in the world only to fall short.

'We never thought it was something that could actually come true for us,' says vocalist/guitarist Andrew Jordan who, at the time, was living at home and working as a waiter at a local restaurant. And, for years, anyway, it seemed like it would remain that way. When Matchbook Romance began in 2001, the idea of playing music for a living felt like a dream, a romantic fantasy that dwelt in each member of the band's imagination. Ends at 3:40, untitled hidden track starts at 7:40.Change is unquestionably a constant in life.'You Can Run, But We'll Find You.' – 4:08.The track 'Monsters' was featured as the lead single from Voices, going on to be featured in video games such as Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Madden NFL 07 and Arena Football: Road to Glory. Hence 'there are voices in the walls.' Some of the lyrics to the hidden track can also be found in typos in the lyrics of the other songs. This panel can be aligned with parts of the album's artwork to reveal secret messages. Inside the album's packaging is a small plastic panel, with alternating black and transparent strips.

The cover of the album was designed by Shawn Harris from pop punk band The Matches. The band chose to tune the all their guitars down half a step to help with the change. Vocalist Andrew Jordan adopts a much different vocal style for this record than their previous, bringing the band closer to the second-wave emo sound.

Matchbook romance my eyes burn