Jump to content
 

Motion City Soundtrack — General Thread


boxelder

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, daveyjones said:

huh. the one i skip is "history lesson." i think overall dinosaur life is a bit too slow for me. "a life less ordinary" should be 1.5x or 2x faster. but i get it, they signed to a major and needed to deliver a radio-friendly single. something they could play on letterman.

but some of those others... man! "pulp fiction" and "the weakends" are on my top 10 motion city tracklist of all time.

FYI i have the deluxe edition boxset of the album where every two songs are on a 7." pre-order was $60. god know what they go for now.
https://www.discogs.com/Motion-City-Soundtrack-My-Dinosaur-Life/release/2501367

history lesson rips haha. as far as singles go, i think her words destroyed my planet is bar none the best single they ever made. it has every ingredient that makes an MCS song successful, a catchy hook, interesting lyrics, and a killer bridge that takes you to places you don’t expect.

the OG MDL vinyl went for a lot until the SRC represses. i remember getting it back then cause i loved the album so much. but you’ve got me beat... i’m sure that 7” set is ridiculously priced now 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, boxelder said:

i think her words destroyed my planet is bar none the best single they ever made.

i’m sure that 7” set is ridiculously priced now 

"her words destroyed my planet" is just too damn slow. i wish it were more like "attractive today" / "everything is alright" / "when you're around." you know me boxy, i can't get into much music that's played at radio tempo (especially in this genre).

and "hysteria" is one of my favorites! that's the speed i want.

$550 on ebay, $440 on discogs.

in addition to "history lesson" i also skip"@!#?@!" because i think the chorus is comically ridiculous.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, daveyjones said:

"her words destroyed my planet" is just too damn slow. i wish it were more like "attractive today" / "everything is alright" / "when you're around." you know me boxy, i can't get into much music that's played at radio tempo (especially in this genre).

and "hysteria" is one of my favorites! that's the speed i want.

$550 on ebay, $440 on discogs.

in addition to "history lesson" i also skip"@!#?@!" because i think the chorus is comically ridiculous.

love @#$%@^@@)@! lol. we couldn't be more different!

MDL i think was a tragedy of wrong place/wrong time. signing to a major wasn't necessary but it made sense at the time, but i feel like the music industry in 2007 and 2010 were in VERY different places. perhaps the biggest change was that pop punk music was still present on radio when they signed to columbia -- FOB, boys like girls, and plain white T's all had hits in '07. whenever MDL was released three years later, pop punk was just nowhere. the bubble had burst. columbia threw it out there in january and hung it out to dry. it wasn't even a few months and they were free agents. some of their best work, but wrong place/wrong time

Link to comment
Share on other sites

47 minutes ago, daveyjones said:

i have never heard of these two other bands, but i'm surprised fall out boy was getting played in 2007. then again i was thirty, and in grad school.

don't go listening to it lol -- what was left of the genre then was more or less just radio disney stuff (if you want the worst of it, look up hey monday). it was all hair, like glam metal in the 80s. it's why i always thought MCS never really fit in. they're not super weird, but they're a little too earnest to be touring w/ bands like all time low

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think this would be my ranking of their albums:

1. My Dinosaur Life

2. I Am The Movie

3. Even If It Kills Me

4. Commit This To Memory

5. Go/Panic Stations

This felt very dirty to do lol, but I think this is about right. I had to look at the tracklists of each of the albums from 3-6 to see which ones I like more. I used to not like CTTM that much but after binging MCS for a while I’ve grown to like the album a lot more. I can see why people rank it as their magnum opus and despite being their sophomore album, it seems to incorporate just the right amount of all the elements from their future albums. Some albums have better tracks than others but I have them ranked on how I relate to them as a whole, so it’s hard to rank them accurately. EIIKM and CTTM are honestly interchangeable at this point, I’d say CTTM is the better album but I always loved their “emo” approach in EIIKM and the album is very nostalgic to me.

IATM is a weird choice to have as #2 but I really love the cynical but mellow vibe that was all over the album, which was never exactly replicated in their later work. I think it was because Justin was in some dark times relating to alcoholism and/or addiction(?) throughout the recording of the album, which explains why this vibe is reflected mostly with his lyrics and vocal approach (IMO I’ve kinda liked this vocal style but it changed once CTTM was recorded).

I think I got into Motion City Soundtrack through most of MDL’s singles. I really love how the band just went all out for it. I really enjoy the aggressiveness from everybody in all of the songs although I think Justin’s voice couldn’t deal with that much intensity because he doesn’t sing like that anymore. He also said in a studio transmission that he wasn’t even warming up when recording takes so that’s probably why that style didn’t last so long. Only complaint I have about the album is that there is not enough Moog.

I didn’t expect Go to be my least favorite, but it’s totally underrated. I used to not like Panic Stations that much either but I’ve warmed up to it. It has a bit more oomph to save it.

EDIT: Ranking Go and Panic Stations at the same spot after listening to Go again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think "Go" is underrated. Its definitely a weird record for them but there's some very different interesting tracks on there that seemed ambitious for them that I appreciated, in particular songs like Happy Anniversary and Everyone Will Die. I genuinely love like half of those songs as much as the other records (Timelines, Bottom Feeder, True Romance, the other two I just mentioned) but it never gets love from the fan base. 

For MDL I skip songs like history lesson and the #&#&£&£ wtf one often, less hyped on the singles, but absolutely adore things like Disappear, Worker Bee, Weakends, Stand Too Close and Delirium. 

I think basically every MCS record has at least 50 - 60% gold standard tracks (except panic stations which is just one long boring snooze fest) 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Kay said:

I think "Go" is underrated. Its definitely a weird record for them but there's some very different interesting tracks on there that seemed ambitious for them that I appreciated, in particular songs like Happy Anniversary and Everyone Will Die. I genuinely love like half of those songs as much as the other records (Timelines, Bottom Feeder, True Romance, the other two I just mentioned) but it never gets love from the fan base. 

I just decided to listen to Go again and I don’t know why I ranked it so low. I always enjoyed most of the songs, but I felt like the album didn’t quite get there exactly. Maybe it was because I was spoiled by MDL and I suppose the other records as well (didn’t get into them until like 2013/2014). The guitars are there and Justin’s voice is still going strong from the last album (he was pretty much straining his voice in some songs like Bottom Feeder and TWIYTC), but I always felt like the entire album could’ve kicked it up a notch. 

There are some high points in experimentation like you mentioned but I always felt like the entire album stayed more in the middle of the road. I will mention that “Circuits and Wires” and “The Coma Kid” are the album’s low points IMO. They aren’t even bad songs but they don’t do much for me. Another thing that I don’t like is that some songs have a good buildup (“Boxelder”, “Bad Idea,” and “Alcohol Eyes”) but then fall flat in the chorus. 

I still enjoy the album as it does have some very solid moments but it was a bit of a departure for sure. I’ve ended up tying it with Panic Stations after revisiting it again and I’m definitely appreciating it more. It’s been a while. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, jlx9 said:

I just decided to listen to Go again and I don’t know why I ranked it so low. I always enjoyed most of the songs, but I felt like the album didn’t quite get there exactly. Maybe it was because I was spoiled by MDL and I suppose the other records as well (didn’t get into them until like 2013/2014). The guitars are there and Justin’s voice is still going strong from the last album (he was pretty much straining his voice in some songs like Bottom Feeder and TWIYTC), but I always felt like the entire album could’ve kicked it up a notch. 

There are some high points in experimentation like you mentioned but I always felt like the entire album stayed more in the middle of the road. I will mention that “Circuits and Wires” and “The Coma Kid” are the album’s low points IMO. They aren’t even bad songs but they don’t do much for me. Another thing that I don’t like is that some songs have a good buildup (“Boxelder”, “Bad Idea,” and “Alcohol Eyes”) but then fall flat in the chorus. 

I still enjoy the album as it does have some very solid moments but it was a bit of a departure for sure. I’ve ended up tying it with Panic Stations after revisiting it again and I’m definitely appreciating it more. It’s been a while. 

I actually really like Circuits and Wires, it's not a strong opener at all and feel Timelines would've been a stronger opener, but I actually really like the track. There are a lot of forgettable songs like coma kid and bad idea and some others, it's definitely a hit a miss kinda chill album but even the more middling ones like Son of a Gun or Worst Is Yet To Come still stand on their own I think.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, Kay said:

I actually really like Circuits and Wires, it's not a strong opener at all and feel Timelines would've been a stronger opener, but I actually really like the track. There are a lot of forgettable songs like coma kid and bad idea and some others, it's definitely a hit a miss kinda chill album but even the more middling ones like Son of a Gun or Worst Is Yet To Come still stand on their own I think.

I’ve been listening to TWIYTC this morning and it has always been my favorite off Go. Happy Anniversary is also one of the top tier tracks from that album and I always shift back and forth on which version I like. I usually prefer this acoustic performance but the album version gives me some heavy Placebo vibes (another favorite band of mine) and it’s pretty haunting as it was intended to be.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, boxelder said:

they're a little too earnest to be touring w/ bands like all time low

yea i'm justin's age, so his songs really connect with me on a 1:1 level. when i started seeing them live in 2006ish, the crowd was a mix of people our age and younger. then with even if it kills me it got a little older. and then it kept getting older. so you're right, they were not attracting the younger audience which, i'm assuming, was into a lot of that other music.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, jlx9 said:

I think this would be my ranking of their albums:

1. My Dinosaur Life

2. I Am The Movie

3. Even If It Kills Me

4. Commit This To Memory

5. Go/Panic Stations

 

for me (and again, this is really hard... they are like fractions of a point apart):

1.) commit this to memory

2.)  i am the movie

3.) go

4.) panic stations

5.) even if it kills me

6.) my dinosaur life

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, jlx9 said:

I think I got into Motion City Soundtrack through most of MDL’s singles.

this strikes me as super strange. just as in, the 180 from my own experience. but it also informs how you rate the rest of the band's catalog.

11 hours ago, Kay said:

I think "Go" is underrated. Its definitely a weird record for them but there's some very different interesting tracks on there that seemed ambitious for them that I appreciated, in particular songs like Happy Anniversary and Everyone Will Die. I genuinely love like half of those songs as much as the other records (Timelines, Bottom Feeder, True Romance, the other two I just mentioned) but it never gets love from the fan base. 

For MDL I skip songs like history lesson and the #&#&£&£ wtf one often, less hyped on the singles, but absolutely adore things like Disappear, Worker Bee, Weakends, Stand Too Close and Delirium. 

I think basically every MCS record has at least 50 - 60% gold standard tracks

i have only one or two that i might skip on each album.

8 hours ago, jlx9 said:

There are some high points in experimentation like you mentioned but I always felt like the entire album stayed more in the middle of the road.

nah, i think go is delicious.

7 hours ago, boxelder said:

Go is massively underrated.

absolutely. and the non-album tracks are terrific.

6 hours ago, Kay said:

Timelines would've been a stronger opener

it's too soft to be the opener, imo. but it's one of the best tracks on go for sure.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, daveyjones said:

this strikes me as super strange. just as in, the 180 from my own experience. but it also informs how you rate the rest of the band's catalog.

I was in band class around 8th grade and my teacher was showing some music videos from bands like The Strokes, Matchbox Twenty, and then Motion City Soundtrack. He showed us “A Lifeless Ordinary (Need A Little Help)” to discuss the bridge where Justin’s vocals overlap. I thought it was the coolest thing (still do) so I was immediately hooked by them and that song is still one of my top 5 MCS songs. It was like 2013 at the time so Go was out by then but I think MDL had more success so YouTube just kept recommending me the singles. Some of my favorite all-time favorite MCS tracks are ALO(NALH), Disappear, and Worker Bee, so I guess MDL was my introduction album to them. It still holds up to me even though there are some weaker tracks on there like History Lesson, Stand Too Close, and Pulp-Fiction. I wish Sunny Day was on the album, I don’t know why that ended up a b-side. Had to make my own bonus track for it. 

I’m surprised you have it so low, so I’m curious why. There isn’t much I would complain about the album other than the fact it could use more Moog. I know it comes off as nostalgia for being my favorite, but I always loved the aggression most of the songs took on the album. Although, after relistening to Go again, Justin still has that kind of energy when he really pushes it in songs like TWIYTC and Bottom Feeder - which are some of my favorites.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Late to this but I’d rank their records:

1. Commit This To Memory 

2. Even If It Kills Me

3. My Dinosaur Life

4. Go

5. I Am The Movie

6. Panic Stations

If people haven’t heard their Making Moves 7” (only on YouTube) the song Severance from it might be one of their best. I have an unconditional love for this band, Justin’s lyrics have gotten me though some of my darkest times. 

  • Love 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Hyland said:

If people haven’t heard their Making Moves 7” (only on YouTube) the song Severance from it might be one of their best. I have an unconditional love for this band, Justin’s lyrics have gotten me though some of my darkest times. 

Definitely agree that Severance is one of MCS’s best songs. I love Making Moves and wish it was officially on iTunes as I just have a bootleg of it for now. Major Leagues is pretty underrated as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/11/2020 at 2:42 AM, jlx9 said:

I was in band class around 8th grade and my teacher was showing some music videos from bands like The Strokes, Matchbox Twenty, and then Motion City Soundtrack. He showed us “A Lifeless Ordinary (Need A Little Help)” to discuss the bridge where Justin’s vocals overlap. I thought it was the coolest thing (still do) so I was immediately hooked by them and that song is still one of my top 5 MCS songs. It was like 2013 at the time so Go was out by then but I think MDL had more success so YouTube just kept recommending me the singles. Some of my favorite all-time favorite MCS tracks are ALO(NALH), Disappear, and Worker Bee, so I guess MDL was my introduction album to them. It still holds up to me even though there are some weaker tracks on there like History Lesson, Stand Too Close, and Pulp-Fiction. I wish Sunny Day was on the album, I don’t know why that ended up a b-side. Had to make my own bonus track for it. 

I’m surprised you have it so low, so I’m curious why. There isn’t much I would complain about the album other than the fact it could use more Moog. I know it comes off as nostalgia for being my favorite, but I always loved the aggression most of the songs took on the album. Although, after relistening to Go again, Justin still has that kind of energy when he really pushes it in songs like TWIYTC and Bottom Feeder - which are some of my favorites.

i find MDL to be second-best in my book. aside from the lack of moog, it's got some of their finest songwriting. i always appreciated justin's heavier focus on screaming (he was too soft on EIIKM by his own admission). my ranking would go:

  1. CTTM
  2. MDL
  3. EIIKM
  4. IATM
  5. Go
  6. panic stations
  • Love 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Hyland said:

If people haven’t heard their Making Moves 7” (only on YouTube) the song Severance from it might be one of their best.

 

11 hours ago, jlx9 said:

I love Making Moves and wish it was officially on iTunes as I just have a bootleg of it for now.

if you buy the 7" it comes with a download code.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i remember liking mdl a lot when it came out and now it's hard to listen to. it kind of seems empty and almost self-aware in a strange way. like JP was channeling himself rather than being himself. Go is under-rated. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...