Matchbooks Romance’s decade-long career included some of the most dynamic post-hardcore/emo ever created. A potent mixture of groove-heavy riffing and soaring, yearning choruses, the Poughkeepsie band’s sound offered a fine alternative to goofy pop-punkers and fly-by-night teen punk. With expressive twin lead vocals, Matchbook Romance never shied away from showing wistful vulnerability, even when the music crashed and rumbled like ocean waves around them. Experiments with acoustic guitars and tasteful keyboards only deepened their layered albums and lent them a sophistication and color that set them apart from similar turn-of-the-century acts.