CDs Revisited: Matchbook Romance - 'Stories and Alibis'

I'm almost kind of embarrassed to admit how much I still like this album. Almost. While my peers were listening to Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, Tell All Your Friends and Your Favorite Weapon, I spent most of my early 2000 emo years with this album. Which is funny, because I didn't get this album until 2005, after I saw Matchbook Romance play with Motion City Soundtrack on the Epitaph Tour (side note: From First to Last opened that show and the entire time I made mental comparisons between Sonny Moore and The Used's Bert McCracken. Like most people at the time, it never crossed my mind to think that he would find success in the EDM field).

I can't really explain why I like Stories and Alibis as much as I do, but I do know that nostalgia has nearly everything to do with it. It's the same exact story for why people my age still love In Love and Death or What It Is to Burn: these albums came out during an important formative period in our lives and there's an association there that can't be easily tainted or removed. Even now that we know better and can recognize the hints of misogyny and enforced gender stereotypes (among other problems) that ran through the scene in those years, it's hard to still not sing along when we hear these songs on the PA before a show or at any of the Emo Nights held across the country.

Much like any of the other albums I mentioned earlier, I'm hesitant to dig too deeply into the lyrical content here. I'm sure if I do, I'll wind up realizing two things: how corny the songs are, and I'll likely run into some lyrics that I find problematic now that I'm not 16 anymore. That said, "Tiger Lily" is a slow, acoustic number and I can hear exactly how silly it is ("why don't we restart and pause it at our favorite parts" had me chuckle louder than I intended). I don't think my eyes can handle that much rolling right now.

Final verdict: I'm reluctantly all about it. But if you put it on after I've had a couple of beers, I'll likely scream along (out of key).

You can stream it below via Spotify or check it out on Amazon here.

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