As the Matches, they self-released their debut album E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals in 2003, then signed to Epitaph Records who re-released it the following year.

Decomposer followed in 2006, seeing the band move from their pop punk roots in a more idiosyncratic direction with contributions from nine different record producers; it reached no.

[2] He would play a critical role in their career, co-writing their songs with Harris and other band members, producing some of their tracks, directing some of their music videos, and participating in creative decisions including planning the group's image, wardrobe, and photographs.

"[2] After graduating, Esposito left the band to attend the United States Naval Academy, and was replaced by Jon Devoto.

[2][4] They took vocal lessons, and Hurwitz expanded their musical palette by having them listen to albums by Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, and Bob Dylan.

"[8] They engaged in what they called "commo promo" tactics (short for "commotion promotion"), playing brief, unannounced acoustic sets outside schools, dormitories, shopping malls, restaurants, and music venues such as Slim's.

[2][5] They would go to local high schools, enter classes that were in session, toss stacks of flyers in the air, and run through the halls strumming their guitars and singing their songs until they were chased off campus.

I love Bad Religion and Rancid and Green Day, but I'm not gonna throw my fist up in the air for the institution of punk rock.

"[3] In late 2002 the group was contacted by a Chicago band also called the Locals, led by frontwoman Yvonne Doll, threatening a lawsuit if they did not change their name.

[5] The Matches recorded their debut album, E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals, in a series of basements and living rooms and self-released it in February 2003.

[10][11] Through self-promotion and performances with bands including Reel Big Fish, Lit, and Zebrahead, the Matches gained attention for their energetic live shows and sold over 4,000 copies of the album without the support of a record label.

[12] The band contributed the song "December Is for Cynics" to the compilation A Santa Cause: It's a Punk Rock Christmas, released in November 2003.

[5][14] The label had E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals re-mixed by Joe Barresi and re-released it in May 2004 with a slightly altered track list.

[15] That November, a music video was released for the song "Chain Me Free", and the band went on tour opening for Yellowcard.

[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] The Matches made a guest appearance on MC Lars's album The Graduate, released in March 2006, performing on the track "Hot Topic Is Not Punk Rock".

[5][17] The album was recorded at various studios with nine different producers, including Hurwitz, Matt Rad, Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Tim Armstrong of Rancid, Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, Nick Hexum of 311, and John Feldmann of Goldfinger.

Hurwitz directed and came up with the concept for the "Salty Eyes" video, an homage to the D. A. Pennebaker film Dont Look Back (1967), in which Bob Dylan's song "Subterranean Homesick Blues" plays while Dylan holds up and discards cue cards with selected words and phrases from the lyrics; in their video, the Matches replaced the cue cards with old television sets, creating a chaotic scene.

[27][33] The band embarked on that spring's Alternative Press Tour with All Time Low, The Rocket Summer, and Forever the Sickest Kids to support it.

[34] The San Francisco Chronicle called it "a tidy mass of musical ideas — metal, glam and punk all mingle, lots of vocals, textured, carefully layered sound, sometimes like a pocket-size Queen.

"[35] An AllMusic review also drew a comparison to Queen, as well as to Andrew Lloyd Webber, saying "the Matches don't seem to know exactly what they're doing [...] big chunks of A Band in Hope are almost shockingly unexpected, verging at times on just plain weird.

This writer also asked whether "operatic falsettos, erupting in a fury of crashing thunder and straight up Les Mis-style gang vocals [might be] Cheesy?"

[37] Founding bassist Justin San Souci left the Matches in July 2008; he went on to become a concept artist for a video game company.

[37] Harris later reflected: We got really ambitious, and part of that paid off in a great way, because we were really creative, and we experimented with all types of music and different producers and became this weird, arty pop-punk band.

[37] "There seemed to be some kind of core ideology that was sort of at risk of being compromised from within and without", said Harris, who at the same time had begun working on a new musical project with Jake Grigg of Australian band Something with Numbers.

[citation needed] Harris then started a new project, Fortress Social Club, who released two albums and an EP in 2013;[46] he followed that project with a solo effort under the name St. Ranger, releasing several singles and one full studio album titled Leaves L.A., which was recorded while traveling with his wife across the U.S. in an Airstream trailer.

[47] Harris also continued to work as a visual artist, contributing to the album artwork of Bayside's Shudder (2008) and Milo Greene's Milo Greene (2012) and Control (2015),[48][49][50][51][52][53] and finding critical success as illustrator and writer/illustrator of numerous children's books including Her Right Foot, What Can A Citizen Do?,[54] Have You Ever Seen a Flower,[55] The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza, and The First Cat in Space and the Soup of Doom.

In January 2014, Shawn Harris, Justin San Souci, Matt Whalen, and Jon Devoto met while all were back in Oakland.

[61][62] Harris started a solo surf rock project called St. Ranger, releasing the album Leaves L.A. in February 2016.

[68] The Matches played six shows in the United States performing A Band in Hope in full, and released a digital live album titled Aband1nh0pe.

[69] The documentary, which features interviews with Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, Tom Higgenson of Plain White T's, and Justin Pierre of Motion City Soundtrack, finished filming in 2016.