Keyboardist Matt Johnson and drummer Kim Schifino are the driving force behind the musical perpetual energy machine that is Matt and Kim. The two came together in 2004 while attending the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and sessions for their debut album began two years later after a spring tour with Meneguar. Featuring vocals from both members, the self-titled album was released by the I Heart Comix label in fall 2006, and several festival appearances (including stints at Lollapalooza and the Siren Music Festival) kept the band's profile high in 2007. Matt and Kim continued touring throughout the following years, taking a brief break to record material for their sophomore album, Grand, which appeared in early 2009 on their new label Fader and cracked the Billboard 200 at number 165. Sidewalks followed one year later and, helped by a video that saw the pair stripping down to their birthday suits in the streets of New York City, charted much higher, peaking at number 30. Their fourth album, Lightning, was self-produced by the band again and saw the light of day in November of 2012. A year later the duo released an album of remixes from Lightning titled, naturally enough, Lightning Remixes. For their next record, New Glow, which was released in early 2015, the duo moved to Harvest Records.
MacKenzie Wilson
AllMusic.com
