Motion City Soundtrack’s ‘My Dinosaur Life’ A Winner
By Brian Washburn
Motion City Soundtrack seems to always be on the verge of bursting the mainstream bubble and bringing their honest, catchy-as-hell pop/rock to national radio. However, as genius and intuitive as their previous efforts have been, the band has not reached their potential for mainstream pop-rock (especially their sophomore release “Commit This To Memory” — one of my 10 most underrated albums to be discussed in another column at another time).
But in an age filled with disintegrating record labels and the radio becoming less and less of an important aspect in the music industry, Motion City seems to have hit a chord with listeners and their new album, “My Dinosaur Life.” The album seems to have the intelligence, melody and catchiness to push Motion City through from the Warped crowd into the national spotlight.
Even though this album is a step up from the band’s previous album “Even If It Kills Me,” the dynamic has not changed one bit for the Minnesota five-piece. The sloppy, guitar melodies are as catchy and hook-laden as ever, but guitarists Justin Pierre and Josh Cain have upped their abilities to clean up their songwriting. However, even though the sound remains the same, several songs off the release (most notably “@!#@!” and “Her Words Destroy Me”) have ventured into the epic territory, the territory only seen by those in the national music scene who get the national notoriety and the big, arena tour.
Although this does not come without some setbacks from other songs, where the band seems to become more pop than rock and could be placed on Radio Disney, which is not a compliment by any stretch of the imagination.
The melodies, tone and structure of Motion City’s songs might not have been pushed off the laden path, but it is the lyrics and passion of vocalist and guitarist Pierre that really pushes “My Dinosaur Life” into territory the band has not ventured into in several years.
From asking for a little help to get through situations and straightforward observations from everyday life, Pierre’s lyrics are as honest and unapologetic as ever. It is the lyrical honesty that has always set Motion City apart from their scene peers and predecessors, but this time around it seems like Pierre is holding nothing back, no matter how bizarre or with observations such as quitting smoking weed, stains on the floors of hospitals, falling asleep watching “Veronica Mars” and simply having people go away and leaving him and his homeboys alone.
Motion City Soundtrack have been overwhelmed with fans, critical acclaim and modest record sales in the underground music scene for some time. They have been on enormous national tours and even headlined Warped Tour on a couple occasions. It seems as if it were only a matter of time until the music industry recognized their talent and their unique rock/pop sound.
While “My Dinosaur Life” seems to be the record that will finally put the band over the top and in the spotlight, it is still a shame this did not come a couple of albums ago. But I guess it’s a miracle this happened when it looked like the band might just be on the verge of extinction.
Brian Washburn is the founder of DBW and is currently working on a way to revolutionize the music industry.
