Motion City Soundtrack - Even If It Kills Me

Their third release is a pop masterpiece; a smart, catchy album filled with infectious songs from start to finish. It recalls the clever pop of such iconic records as Weezer's "Blue Album", combined with a sophistication and haunting honesty that puts them in league with indie auteurs like Death Cab For Cutie. For fans of Weezer, All American Rejects, Fall Out Boy, and Green Day. Produced by Fountain Of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger and former Cars frontman Ric Ocasek. Product Description

Putting The "Motion" In Motion City Soundtrack, or We're Going To Be Popular Even If It Kills Us

Marching in with hype and top-level producers, Motion City Soundtrack is clearly looking to make a statement within the music industry, that pop punk/rock is not dead, but it still lives on. With Fountains of Wayne frontman Adam Schlesinger and The Cars' Ric Ocasek in tow, they look to conquer a kingdom somewhere. Strangely enough, it may be the tools that make this sculpture have some of its most glaring flaws.

Probably the most noticeable lowlight of the album is "The Conversation," a standard piano ballad that comes off more insincere than it does emotional. Other than that, the band produces an album full of strong, but not necessarily memorable tracks. Case in point: "Broken Heart." And even the strongest tracks suffer from attributes I attribute to the producers. The back-half of "Hello Helicopter" is a good example, as it turns from an original and emotional track to too much of a pop rock emo fest.

And yes, the album does minorly earn it's language warning sticker. They throw around a few S-words, a F-word or two, but the strange thing is that it seems like the band is just throwing them around just to either sound cool, or be more mature. Let's just say, I could have done without them, but they neither hinder nor help the album to a great degree.

Pop punk highlights include the fun "This Is For Real," whose music video is a must-see. "Can't Finish What You Started," and "Where I Belong" also finish what they set out to do. In terms of highlights, the band puts probably puts out their best and/or second-best in the one-two punch of the quirky "Antonia," and "Even If It Kills Me," which is a strong set, finding its place in the back-half of the song. However, "Antonia" does lose a little momentum everytime the song leaves its verses.

Overall, Motion City Soundtrack lives up the hype and produces a strong set of songs, which wind up to be the band's best, by far. They come up with some catchy and fun pop punk/rock, adding a sense of quirk to the album. However, aside from the strong but unmemorable songs, the band makes little mistakes that take away from songs.

Looking to the credits however, a pattern emerges. Its impressive duel-producers seem to be the cause of the problem. While Ocasek is consistent in the album, Schlesinger is largely inconsistent, of course specializing in the pop punk songs, but faltering elsewhere. Little mistakes hinder the album, but if you're looking for a fun pop punk/rock album with variety and quirk, then this is the CD for you. October 16, 2008

More Motion City for the Motion City Lover

This disc is not quite up to par with the instantly addictive melodies of "I Am the Movie" or "Commit This to Memory." However, there are a few catchy tracks such as "Fell In Love Without You" and "This Is For Real."

"Even If It Kills Me" explores more emotional subject matter than past attempts. Motion City Soundtrack lovers will not be disappointed and I find myself listening to it on repeat while driving in my car. Overall a solid buy. After a few times through it, you'll be humming along. April 25, 2008

solid but hard to live up to past albums' greatness

As a huge mcs fan, i had big expectations for the 3rd album i bought. This newest album has some standout tracks and singles but is just not quite a steady-through hit machine like the other 2 previous albums. I would recommend those but as for this, it's hard to fall as in love with. Maybe subsequent listenings will bring out a new love for it. They changed their sound and may be in a different key this time around. January 17, 2008

Forgettable

I sought out Motion City Soundtrack last year looking for another Fall Out Boy or Plain White T's (i.e., outstanding punk-pop). Sadly, their 2005 release Commit This to Memory was, well, less than memorable. Yes, there were hooks, but they wore on me - as did Justin Pierre's persistently meandering vocals.

After reading some optimistic reviews of Even If It Kills Me, I decided to give MCS another go. The result was a roller-coaster ride between promising and sub-par - sometimes within the same song. (Reference the troublesome verses and rousing choruses on It Had to Be You.) The result is a decent record, but once again not the all-around stellar punk-pop for which I'd hoped. Maybe each MCS album will take a step in the same direction and by 2011 we'll have something truly great.

-Brandon January 17, 2008

I didn't think they could do it...

First off, I don't get the 4 star rating for this cd. Sure it's not as fun to jam to as thier first two cd's (which are still in constant rotation on my ipod) I must admit this is my favorite of their albums. If you ever teared up while listening to "Hold me Down" This album is for you.

Must Hear Tracks:

The Conversation
Hello Helicopter
Last Night
It had to be you December 22, 2007

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