Matchbook Romance / Motion City Soundtrack
Split EP
Epitaph
Okay, so here’s the idea: we take two “hot” new emo bands from the Epitaph roster, both of whom have already released one album for the label and are in the process of recording their follow-up. We then have each of them re-record an acoustic version of a track off their last album. Also, let’s have them each create one new acoustic track, since they’re presumably in the studio anyway. Now let’s take those four (yes, that’s right 2×2 = 4) songs and put them on a split EP with some cool artwork and get it to fans to hold them over.
Sounds like a decent idea, too bad the songs aren’t better.
Matchbook Romance unplugged is just plain boring and uninspired, with Dashboard-level mopiness but lacking the catchy bits and tenderness that make pre-teen girls swoon. The Motion City Soundtrack stuff is better, particularly “Sunday Morning,” which is actually quite good. Still, there’s really nothing here to justify spending your hard-earned seven dollars. Save it for their full-length releases, unless you’re a huge fan and absolutely have to complete the collection.
Epitaph: http://www.epitaph.com/
