Album Review: Motion City Soundtrack - Go

Where do we even begin with Motion City Soundtrack? Over their 10 year lifespan, they've released four completely different sounding albums, each one developing upon their unique blend of power-pop and pop-punk that they fashioned on their debut album, "I Am the Movie" and each one criminally underrated. "Go" (which also means five in Japanese) marks the bands return to indie behemoths Epitaph records after their prior effort "My Dinosaur Life" saw a release on Columbia Records and was critically acclaimed as their best and most passionate album to date.

Frontman Justin Pierre's lyrics have only evolved over time, his use of austere words in retelling intensely autobiographical situations such as "True Romance", a nod to Quentin Tarantino's film of the same name, where Pierre describes himself as "a screw up of epic proportions, a walking hand grenade", his self loathing lyrics are completely contradicted by the upbeat acoustic guitar strums and the captivatingly infectious chorus. The sound of these songs doesn't feel too dissimilar to Pierre's side-project Farewell Continental, "Son of Gun" in particular features Pierre's best Stephen Malkmus impression but still manage to include the pop sensibilities of a regular Motion City Soundtrack song with Pierre even reaching new heights of falsetto in the chorus.

This particular release, Pierre seems to focus more on getting older, the grandiose "Everyone Will Die" even sounds like a progression instrumentally with the inclusion of strings and the experimentation of time signatures on "Boxelder". It is with "Happy Anniversary" where the record really feels like it's taken a darker turn with haunting low octave piano even starting out the track and Pierre's whispering croon sending shivers through your spine. Like most Motion City Soundtrack songs, by the time it hits the chorus there's a complete reversal and suddenly the insanely catchy hook, which only needs one listen to get jammed in your head, will be ringing in your head for the rest of the week.

"Go" really sets Motion City Soundtrack apart from their familiars, providing a straightforward pop-rock record and straying away from the labels they've garnered. The power-pop aesthetic is still underlying in their songs however but "Go" is definitely a mature direction for the band, as cringeworthy as it was to say that sentence.

4/5

"Go" is out June 12th through Epitaph Records/The Boombox Generation.

George Gadd