A Mouth Full Of Matches: Smoke Signals

Artist: A Mouth Full Of Matches
Title: Smoke Signals
Format Reviewed: MP3
Format Released: 8th September 2014
Reviewed By: Sophie Lee

All music has its place, and Smoke Signals by A Mouth Full Of Matches caters to the type of audience that deems it a necessity to cut off their sleeves and banish colour from their wardrobe in order to prove themselves; it's not my thing. It's the type of music I would have silently slotted into a playlist of more critically-acclaimed bands like Trivium, back when I dyed my hair black, circled my eyes with liner and wore Jack Daniels t-shirts, without having tasted the stuff… A time before I realized it was, if anything, more respectable to appreciate to more than one genre.

That being said, for just a second release from this northern five-piece, I was taken aback by the recording quality, and crisp, clean sound of the EP. It has a quality that only comes with a huge investment of time, practice and money, which I respect, and for all my digs, there's an enormous audience for this fist-pumping, graphically lyrical, anthemic sound. There are a lot of kids out there still using Tears Don’t Fall by Bullet For My Valentine as the soundtrack to teenage misery, before they graduate to hardcore, and A Mouth Full Of Matches caters beautifully to that sound. It fills every longing for pounding bass drums, fiddly guitar parts and soaring harmonies (which for some bizarre reason, always seems to conjure up Lord Of The Rings imagery in my mind) that you could ever have.

This is all entirely subjective, and, in all honesty, this is not a genre I know masses about, it just doesn't resonate well with me. A Mouth Full Of Matches are young and fresh, even if their sound is not necessarily, and with just two years since their founding, they are remarkably professional in clarity, quality and sound, and I would be ashamed of myself if I didn't offer my support to the female presence this band offers, as it is such a rarity within this type of music. If Metal inspired Alt-Rock is your thing, One By One has a huge hook, and the entire EP is currently available on Spotify.