you’ve got new chords i’ve never heard before, i’m ready to sing along

Matt Pryor’s (The Get Up Kids, The New Amsterdams) first solo release, Confidence Man, is a quiet alt-country-influenced album. Utilizing mostly acoustic guitar, banjo, and harmonica, Pryor plays his emotions a little closer to the vest.

Pryor’s voice has taken on a deeper and more mature tone compared to his earlier efforts, which contributes to a more grown-up aesthetic overall. The album is full of short, simple, acoustic tunes. “I’m Sorry Stephen” has a Ben Lee-like quality to it, and “Dear Lover” offers a quiet send-off.

Title-track “Confidence Man” has a great mix of primary and secondary vocals that play off of each other while accompanied by banjo and harmonica. “Where Did I Go Wrong” is the album’s hidden gem, with the silence being just as important as the dark acoustic guitar and pretty electric guitar line that lies closer to Pryor’s emo roots.

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Confidence Man drops 07/29/08.
Check out Matt Pryor’s MySpace page here.

listen up: with a heart so vicious

Made for my friend Jesse’s birthday, it ends up being a love letter to emo.

With A Heart So Vicious Tracklist

01| Bayside – Masterpiece

02| From First to Last – Note To Self

03| Armor For Sleep – Car Underwater

04| Brand New – Sic Transit Gloria…Glory Fades

05| The Impossibles – This Is Fucking Tragic

06| Blood Brothers – Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck

07| This Providence – Card House Dreamer

08| Head Automatica – The Razor

09| Fall Out Boy – XO

10| Coheed & Cambria – Devil In Jersey City

11| Alkaline Trio – Queen of Pain

12| Saves the Day – Bones

13| Taking Back Sunday – Error: Operator

14| The Academy – Slow Down

15| The Get Up Kids – Forgive and Forget

16| Jimmy Eat World – No Sensitivity

17| The Jealous Sound – Anxious Arms

18| Say Anything – Spidersong

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