Motion City Soundtrack was a perennial favorite of mine during high school. This was the era of my life when pop punk reigned supreme and I immediately found connection with Motion City Soundtrack for a variety of reasons– our shared Midwest roots (we both hail from the Twin Cities in Minnesota), their unique blend of sonic elements that incorporate an over the top Moog synthesizer, and the band’s irreverent witticism. Lead singer and lyricist Justin Pierre’s ability to take his pessimistic self-obsession with his station in life and inject sharp barbs of humor into his lyrics adds a sort of devil-may-care attitude into all the moping, which certainly sets them apart in the genre and gives the entire album a bit of much-needed levity.
For any of my millenial readers, one listen to “Everything Is Alright” and “L.G. FUAD” will immediately bring you back to that feeling of social awkwardness of high school in all its anxious glory while putting a smile right on your face at the same time. Pierre’s vocal melodies are as sharp as you remember them being (it certainly helped having Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 produce the album) and the band behind him brings a significant amount of rhythmic and harmonic creativity behind him that elevate the whole affair.
A final note– this album features one of the more iconic (and nostalgic) breakup songs of all-time with the album closer “Hold Me Down”. The song details receiving a break-up letter from a girlfriend with some of the most honest and introspective lyrics I remember hearing in that moment in my life (“You’re the laziness of the afternoon/You’re the reason why I burst and why I bloom”). It’s the gold standard for breakup songs in pop punk genre.
Standout Songs: “Attractive Today”, “Everything Is Alright”, “L.G. FUAD”, “Better Open The Door”, “Hold Me Down”
