I was first introduced to A Mouth Full of Matches (AMFOM) about a month ago, and as ever it’s taken me a while to getting round to rattling off a few words about them!
The band are a 5-piece alternative rock outfit from Manchester. Fronting the group is Tom Buxton on vocals; strings are twanged by Mark Holden, Jane Hebenton (six strings each) and Helen Hebenton (bass… and yes, she’s related to Jane – they’re twin sisters); tubs thumped by Steven Hall.
Formed in July 2012, they released their first EP (Tasting Fire) in 2013. Reviews were very positive and they made it in the last 15 for a chance to play at Download earlier this year courtesy of a competition run by Red Bull.
Most recently – September 8th, in fact – they released EP number 2, entitled Smoke Signals. Produced by Matt Hyde (BFMV, Slipknot, Machine Head…), it’s unsurprisingly of a high quality production-wise, and thankfully it has the songwriting and musicianship behind it to make the most of his skills.
The four tracks are all worth listening to, managing to be “easy listening” enough to put on in the background when you’re doing something else while also standing up to closer scrutiny when they’re the focus of your musical attention. The subject matter of the songs are quite personal and expressive of the band’s thoughts and emotions. From the joy a special person can bring you to passion and rebellion, AMFOM pick up on the internal voice of their generation (and some of the more youthful eldsters!) very well indeed.
As I said, the EP is already available and you can grab it from their bandcamp page as a “pay what you want” package. Be generous!
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