Album Review: Go by Motion City Soundtrack

On the final track of Motion City Soundtrack’s 2010 album My Dinosaur Life, lead singer Justin Pierre gets a bit introspective in the wake of his band’s upbeat pop-punk crash course, singing, “As years go crashing by, I think of all I’ve pondered / So many minutes squandered, so many things undone / I’ve tried to figure out how many lives I’ve wasted waiting for the perfect time to start. ” That contemplative sentiment was far from just a fleeting thought, but rather a concept that would engulf Pierre and the rest of the band during the creation of their latest release Go. Instead of nestling into a comfort zone of broken-hearted emo-pop, Motion City Soundtrack has pushed themselves in a much darker, more pensive direction which has culminated in what may be the band’s best and most well-rounded release to date.

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Review Summary: Falling just short of the band's highest standards, but with all the charm and hooks you'd expect. As I start writing this review, "Happy Anniversary" - Go's penultimate track - has just kicked into its pretty sinister chorus, and it's striking me that we need to stop calling Motion City Soundtrack "that one pop-punk band that's really fun with all the synths and lyrics about video games. " Justin Pierre and company are best known for 2005's superb Commit This To Memory (although My Dinosaur Life gives that record a run for its money), but there's more to this Minnesota quintet than people would have you believe.

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Well known for their driving, sugary-sweet emo-pop sound, Motion City Soundtrack ditch some of their punk leanings for a more pure pop sound on their fifth album, Go. While the band has always had a sunny, sweet quality, the album finds the group returning with a sound that feels more smoothed out and carefully measured. Though Motion City Soundtrack make this more subdued sound work for them, it sometimes feels a bit restrained.

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