Matchbox Twenty – She’s So Mean
Can it really be 10 years since the last proper Matchbox Twenty album? The heart says no, but the facts don’t lie. If we exclude the 2007 singles collection ‘Exile on Mainstream’ – which is exactly what we’re going to do – 2002’s ‘More Than You Think You Are’ was the last time the band released an LP. It’s testament to the band’s knack with a catchy tune that it almost feels like they’ve never been away.
‘She’s So Mean’ is the opening salvo from ‘North’, Matchbox Twenty’s latest assault on the charts. It’s the simple tale of ‘boy meets girl, girl turns out to be completely crazy, boy still can’t get enough’. We’ve all been there. Despite being a self-obsessed, record scratching nightmare who never tidies up her clothes, she projects an irresistible allure. There are probably deep and complex psychological factors at play in the desire to prolong such a toxic relationship, but it’s likely the hot pants modelled by the lady in the video have something to do with it too.
But after such a long time away, what does Matchbox Twenty 2012 (something of a mouthful) actually look and sound like?
“I think in some cases it’s a drastic change,” frontman Rob Thomas told Mix 965 Houston. “You have to be honest with who you are right now. And we wanted something that hits our fans from 6 to 60. A little something to make you dance, something to make you think, something to make you cry. Like the albums that we all grew up with and we loved that were like a journey from the first song to the last and not just a collection of a bunch of songs that sound the same.”
But fans of the band’s older output needn’t worry too much. Based on ‘She’s So Mean’ Matchbox Twenty have retained much of what made them successful in their earlier incarnation. This is big, glossy pop-rock with a chorus as large and hook-filled as the cloakroom at Madison Square Garden. It all bodes well for the September release of ‘North’.
