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 2x2 = 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.
