The band has played shows and toured across the US and in the UK with The Smashing Pumpkins, Tiger Army, Shiny Toy Guns, Moving Units, The Bravery, Longwave, VNV Nation, She Wants Revenge, Mark Burgess of The Chameleons, Elefant, Jonathan Richman, and The Unseen.
The band played anywhere they could get booked, including warehouse parties and small punk clubs, and also some higher profile venues like The Wiltern, the Bowery Ballroom and The Warfield.
The band arguably played its biggest show in San Francisco in 2007, opening for the reformed Smashing Pumpkins at the Fillmore.
War Tapes closed out the year with more live performances in the Los Angeles area and in early 2009, they completed work on their debut LP, The Continental Divide.
The band also performed on the ABC Family television series Greek in the season 2 finale "At World's End" on June 15, 2009.
War Tapes define their sound as "Heart-Quaking Doom Pop", at times being compared to The Cure, Depeche Mode, and Joy Division.
William was trained in jazz bass and guitar, while Matt played in several shoegaze and punk bands before joining War Tapes.