Brooklyn duo Matt and Kim have revived new-wave music since forming in 2004.
www.myspace.com/mattandkim

published on 02/22/07

Matt and Kim to rock Vassar

Liza Darwin Assistant Arts Editor

Up-and-coming guitar-and-drum duo Matt and Kim will perform with Yeasayer at the Vassar NoViCE show on Friday, Feb. 23. According to NoViCE Co-President Jake Friedman ’07, Vassar students will have the opportunity to see “next big things” in the world of music with Matt and Kim.

Because each band has a different sound, the show will feature a variety of musical styles, Friedman said. Brooklyn duo Matt and Kim’s contagious pop melodies and snappy lyrics have already earned them a following.

“Matt and Kim have been playing to hugely-packed and sold-out audiences all over the country,” Friedman said. In addition, Matt and Kim have been regulars on the MTV2 television channel and are “the darlings of all the magazines.”

The two met at the Pratt Institute in 2004 and soon started dating. They learned that they share interests in music, film, and art, and began collaborating on projects. In an interview with Chief Magazine, Kim said that they did not think their musical endeavors would take them anywhere.

“We didn’t think it was going to go any farther than us messing around in our apartment,” she told the publication. However, they were persuaded by a friend to do their first show, and the rest is history. Currently, their video for the single “Yea Yeah” is running on MTV2.

Matt and Kim’s recorded tracks are only a preview of their exciting live performances. Their MySpace page describes these shows as an “onstage pizza party.” Known for their stage diving at New York clubs, this portrayal is easy to understand after watching them perform a few songs.

Each live show is different, and, as The Village Voice recalls of a past performance, absolutely anything goes. “When they played Roosevelt Island last summer, Kim subbed a cardboard box for drums, and Matt rocked the same Casio keyboard you learned to play “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on in grade school,” stated the Voice (10.26.06).

The duo uses energetic pop vocals in their upbeat, danceable tracks on their self-titled debut CD on IHeartComix Records. Songs such as “No More Long Years” and “Yea Yeah” showcase their signature style of bouncy keyboard melodies with an undertone of drums.

“Matt and Kim will be one of the bands to see at this year’s South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin,” Friedman said. Other bands to perform at the Festival include Bloc Party, Jack’s Mannequin, new British pop sensation Lily Allen, and the other band on the NoViCE bill, Yeasayer.

Brooklyn-based Yeasayer, whose Myspace page describes their own style as “Middle Eastern-Psych-Pop-Snap-Gospel,” will open for Matt and Kim. Songs such as “New Granada” and “Final Path” reveal the band’s blend of world music influences. Yeasayer’s first album will be released this year on Monitor Records.

The show will take place on Feb. 23 at 10 p.m. in the Main Building Multi-Purpose Room. To learn more about the bands and sample their music, check out their MySpace pages: myspace.com/mattandkim and myspace.com/ yeasayer.

E-mail this entry to:

Your e-mail address:

Message (optional):

Comments posted do not represent the opinions of The Miscellany News, its staff, or Vassar College. The Miscellany News reserves the right to withhold or remove comments which contain false information, are inappropriate or irrelevant to the article printed above, or are otherwise objectionable.

Alumnae/i posters are strongly encouraged to include their class year with their name. The maximum length for comments is approximately 100 words; longer responses should be submitted as letters to the editor to misc@vassar.edu. More information about our letters policy can be found on our Policies page.