Decomposer is the second album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 by The Matches

The Matches

The Matches are a United States-based band formed in 1997 in Oakland, California. It currently is composed of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Shawn Harris, lead guitarist and backup vocalist Jonathan Devoto, bassist and backup vocalist Dylan Rowe, and drummer Matt Whalen...

, released by Epitaph Records

Epitaph Records

Epitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record...

 on September 11, 2006 worldwide and on September 12, 2006. The band took an unusual approach to the album and enlisted the help of nine producers including John Feldmann

John Feldmann

John William Feldmann is an American musician and producer who is the lead singer/guitarist of the band Goldfinger. He is known as an animal rights advocate.- Music :...

 of Goldfinger

Goldfinger (band)

Goldfinger is a Los Angeles pop punk/ska punk band that formed in 1994. Currently, the band is composed of vocalist/guitarist John Feldmann, guitarist Charlie Paulson, bassist Kelly LeMieux, and drummer Darrin Pfeiffer...

, Mark Hoppus

Mark Hoppus

Mark Allan Hoppus is an American musician, record producer, and television host. He is the bass guitarist and one of the two lead vocalists of the pop punk band Blink-182, as well as the bass guitarist and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band +44. He is a co-founder of both bands...

 of +44

+44 (band)

+44 was an alternative rock band formed by Blink-182 members Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker...

 and Blink-182

Blink-182

Blink-182 is an American rock band consisting of vocalist and bass guitarist Mark Hoppus, vocalist and guitarist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. They have sold over 27 million albums worldwide since forming in Poway, California in 1992...

, Nick Hexum

Nick Hexum

Nicholas Lofton Hexum is an American musician, currently the vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the alternative rock band 311.-Early life:Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Hexum went to Westside High School in Omaha, Nebraska...

 of 311

311 (band)

311 is an American rock band from Omaha, Nebraska. The band was formed in 1988 by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Nick Hexum, lead guitarist Jim Watson , bassist Aaron "P-Nut" Wills and drummer Chad Sexton...

, Tim Armstrong

Tim Armstrong

Timothy Lockwood Armstrong is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known for his work with punk rock bands Rancid, Operation Ivy, Downfall, and the Transplants. He is also the owner and operator of Hellcat Records.-Personal life:Armstrong was born November 25, 1965 and was...

 of Rancid

Rancid (band)

Rancid is an American punk rock band formed in Berkeley, California in 1991. Founded by Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, both of whom previously played in the ska punk band Operation Ivy, Rancid is credited—along with Green Day and The Offspring—for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the...

 and Brett Gurewitz

Brett Gurewitz

Brett W. Gurewitz , nicknamed Mr. Brett, is the guitarist and a songwriter of Bad Religion. He is also the owner of the music label Epitaph Records and sister-labels ANTI-, Burning Heart Records, Fat Possum Records, and Hellcat Records...

 of Bad Religion

Bad Religion

Bad Religion is a punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles in 1979. Their current line-up consists of Greg Graffin , Brett Gurewitz , Jay Bentley , Greg Hetson , Brian Baker and Brooks Wackerman . Gurewitz is also the founder of the label Epitaph Records, which has released almost all of the...

.

Decomposer also marks a vast departure from The Matches' previous strict alternative

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

/punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 sound and a growth into a more avant-garde

Avant-garde music

Avant-garde music is a term used to characterize music which is thought to be ahead of its time, i.e. containing innovative elements or fusing different genres....

 and art rock

Art rock

Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...

 sound. Additionally, many of the lyrical themes explored on Decomposer were resurrected for their next offering, 2008's

2008 in music

2008 was a huge year in music history with the emergence of pop superstars Lady Gaga and Katy Perry into the mainstream. Also, this is the year that is widely agreed upon by critics as the start of the fall of hip hop from the mainstream and the rise of Synthpop into the mainstream due to acts such...

 A Band in Hope.

Track listing

All tracks by The Matches

The Matches

The Matches are a United States-based band formed in 1997 in Oakland, California. It currently is composed of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Shawn Harris, lead guitarist and backup vocalist Jonathan Devoto, bassist and backup vocalist Dylan Rowe, and drummer Matt Whalen...

. Producers in parentheses.

1. "Salty Eyes" (Matt Radosevich
   Matt Radosevich
   Matt Radosevich is an American record producer, songwriter, mixer, and musician from Oakland, CA. He has produced artists such as Andy Grammer, The Parlor Mob, dredg, Hot Chelle Rae, The Matches, and Audrye Sessions...
   
   ) – 2:38
2. "Drive" (Mike Green) – 3:26
3. "Papercut Skin" (John Feldmann) – 3:25
4. "Clumsy Heart" (Miles Hurwitz) – 3:31
5. "Little Maggots" (John Feldmann) – 2:44
6. "What Katie Said" (Mark Hoppus
   Mark Hoppus
   Mark Allan Hoppus is an American musician, record producer, and television host. He is the bass guitarist and one of the two lead vocalists of the pop punk band Blink-182, as well as the bass guitarist and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band +44. He is a co-founder of both bands...
   
   ) – 2:53
7. "Sunburn vs. the Rhinovirus" (Mark Hoppus
   Mark Hoppus
   Mark Allan Hoppus is an American musician, record producer, and television host. He is the bass guitarist and one of the two lead vocalists of the pop punk band Blink-182, as well as the bass guitarist and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band +44. He is a co-founder of both bands...
   
   ) – 3:45
8. "Lazier Than Furniture" (Divine Genius) – 2:36
9. "Didi (My Doe, Part 2)" (Nick Hexum
   Nick Hexum
   Nicholas Lofton Hexum is an American musician, currently the vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the alternative rock band 311.-Early life:Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Hexum went to Westside High School in Omaha, Nebraska...
   
   ) – 3:11
10. "You (Don't) Know Me" (Tim Armstrong
    Tim Armstrong
    Timothy Lockwood Armstrong is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known for his work with punk rock bands Rancid, Operation Ivy, Downfall, and the Transplants. He is also the owner and operator of Hellcat Records.-Personal life:Armstrong was born November 25, 1965 and was...
    
    ) – 4:05
11. "My Soft and Deep" (Brett Gurewitz) – 3:36
12. "Shoot Me in the Smile" (Matt Radosevich
    Matt Radosevich
    Matt Radosevich is an American record producer, songwriter, mixer, and musician from Oakland, CA. He has produced artists such as Andy Grammer, The Parlor Mob, dredg, Hot Chelle Rae, The Matches, and Audrye Sessions...
    
    ) – 3:31
13. "The Barber's Unhappiness" (Mark Hoppus
    Mark Hoppus
    Mark Allan Hoppus is an American musician, record producer, and television host. He is the bass guitarist and one of the two lead vocalists of the pop punk band Blink-182, as well as the bass guitarist and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band +44. He is a co-founder of both bands...
    
    ) – 5:24

Personnel

• Tim Armstrong
  Tim Armstrong
  Timothy Lockwood Armstrong is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known for his work with punk rock bands Rancid, Operation Ivy, Downfall, and the Transplants. He is also the owner and operator of Hellcat Records.-Personal life:Armstrong was born November 25, 1965 and was...
  
   – percussion, vocals, producer
• Tom Baker – mastering
• Dean Butterworth – percussion, loop
• Jon Devoto – guitar, vocals, vibraphone
• Ryan Divine – producer, engineer
• Fatalistic Choir – performer
• John Feldmann
  John Feldmann
  John William Feldmann is an American musician and producer who is the lead singer/guitarist of the band Goldfinger. He is known as an animal rights advocate.- Music :...
  
   – percussion, choir, chorus, producer, engineer, drum programming, mixing
• Johnny Genius – percussion, producer, engineer
• Mike Green – programming, producer, engineer
• Brett Gurewitz
  Brett Gurewitz
  Brett W. Gurewitz , nicknamed Mr. Brett, is the guitarist and a songwriter of Bad Religion. He is also the owner of the music label Epitaph Records and sister-labels ANTI-, Burning Heart Records, Fat Possum Records, and Hellcat Records...
  
   – percussion, vocals (background), producer
• Shawn Harris – guitar, vocals, artwork, design
• Nicholas Hexum – producer
• Chris Holmes – engineer, drum programming
• Mark Hoppus
  Mark Hoppus
  Mark Allan Hoppus is an American musician, record producer, and television host. He is the bass guitarist and one of the two lead vocalists of the pop punk band Blink-182, as well as the bass guitarist and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band +44. He is a co-founder of both bands...
  
   – percussion, producer, drum programming
• Miles Hurwitz – producer, executive producer
• Dan Kinzie – choir, chorus
• Ben Kramer – trumpet
• Marco Martin – engineer
• Pete Martinez – engineer
• John Morrical – engineer
• Anton Patzner
  Anton Patzner
  Anton Patzner is a violinist, composer and arranger who is a founding member of Judgement Day, has been featured on several major label and indie label records, frequently tours with Bright Eyes and Audrye Sessions and has also toured with Mates of State, The Faint, dredg, Margot and the Nuclear So...
  
   – violin, viola, string arrangements
• Lewis Patzner – cello
• Matt Radosevich
  Matt Radosevich
  Matt Radosevich is an American record producer, songwriter, mixer, and musician from Oakland, CA. He has produced artists such as Andy Grammer, The Parlor Mob, dredg, Hot Chelle Rae, The Matches, and Audrye Sessions...
  
  – organ, producer, engineer, tympani [timpani], string arrangements, mixing
• Ben Richards – keyboards
• Chris Roach – engineer, assistant
• Michael Rosen – engineer
• George Sanders – author
• Justin San Souci – bass, vocals
• Emilee Seymour – artwork, design
• Josie Shafer – fender rhodes
• Josh Smith – engineer
• Stevie Smith – author
• Giff Tripp – engineer
• Jason Walters – engineer
• Matt Whalen – percussion, drums