Am I the only one that noticed Matt & Kim rode a huge wave of buzz into a new record at the end of 2008 and then dropped off the face of the (media) earth? Its not as if they aren’t still playing to decent crowds and doing the interview cycle but it is hard for me to recall an act that released a highly anticipated record with what amounts to a whimper and then saw their level of interest deflate to such lows. The truly odd part of the equation is that Matt & Kim didn’t do anything differently while this all played out.

In fact, they just went about business as usual, playing energetic shows to sweaty crowds that slowly grew with each pass through a city. Now, the reasoning behind this turn of events likely falls in a lot of quarters. A big factor is something that was sure to cripple the duo long-term: Matt & Kim only have one song. It’s a pretty good tune and certainly fun to sing along with (made all the easier with their rudimentary lyrics.) However, you only need to own two tracks from the group at best. In this case, the ubiquitous “Daylight” didn’t even require you to purchase it, as you could garner a free download courtesy of the fine folks at Mountain Dew.

It is impossible to not feel a little disappointment when making your way through the following 9 tracks after the initial rush “Daylight” provides. When they close with an “outro remix” of said tune, it only serves to remind you of the one-dimensional attack – as all they do is slow it down which instantly weakens the effect.

The combination of marketing missteps and giving away your best song certainly doesn’t help a limp product. Everything that had come before managed to get the pair a contract with Fader, and hope is far from lost, but deep in my gut I can’t help thinking that something more rooted in the “old” ways of doing things in the record business sunk them as well: The record just looks crappy.

If you have read this column for long than you know my reservations in most cases of artist-designed releases. The victimizer in this case is the “Kim” portion of Matt & Kim.  The result is a big photoshop-fueled mess containing elements that are not the proper resolution for print materials and a rough hand assembled type adorning a Halloween themed palette. The most disconcerting aspect is not the poor execution but rather the fact that the look couldn’t be further removed from the band’s sound. Third-rate noisy emo junk? Sure. Energetic poptastic blur of drums and keyboards and little else? Err… no.

I honestly had to do a triple take when I saw it in the racks because I was sure another band shared their name in some odd way yet put out an entirely different musical products. I awaited the coming announcement of a revised “The” Matt & Kim or Matt & Kim “USA” or Matt & Kim “Jr.” Scanning the back it was obvious that my hopes were misplaced.

Moving past the cover, the high contrast buildings get paired with a softening blue halftone sky on the interior but it’s not reason enough to stretch this thing out over six panels. Just when I hit replay on “Daylight” and thought I might be being too hard on the crazy kids, I managed to spy a little something special in the sleeve. The most criminal act that one can perpetrate in the record design biz! Before my aching eyes was not 1 corny snapshot of the band and their pals doing mundane tasks while on tour. Not two… not three… not even 300! In fact, over a six-panel foldout miniposter there had to be 400+ photos and not one single rectangle managed to enhance the package in any way what so ever!!!!!! I averted my eyes and saw them rest on the name of the third track on the disc.

“Good Ol’ Fashion Nightmare” indeed.

John Foster owns his very own design firm, Bad People Good Things and is the author of For Sale: Over 200 Innovative Solutions in Packaging Design (HOW), New Masters of Poster Design (Rockport), Maximum Page Design (HOW) as well as an upcoming collection of handmade graphics entitled Dirty Fingernails for Rockport and a monograph on Jeff Kleinsmith for Sub Pop Records.