Motion City Soundtrack Interview/CD Review

Long time, no see. Blame it on the cold or my lack of enthusiasm, but writing has been quite a burden the past month. Maybe that's because nothing of any real importance has happened in the scene lately. The winter doldrums, if you will. Nothing, that is to say, until this past week.

Tuesday marked the release of Motion City Soundtrack's highly anticipated new record, My Dinosaur Life.

The 12-track album is just what the rockers needed to reestablish themselves as punk frontrunners. It's darkly humorous, yet surprisingly catchy.

My Dinosaur Life takes its listener on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs, seemingly symbolic of not only lead singer Justin Pierre's life, but MCS' musical journey thus far. The band established themselves back in 2003 with I Am The Movie, took off in 2005 with some help from friend/producer Mark Hoppus on Commit This To Memory and then fell under the radar in 2007 with their last release, Even If It Kills Me.

After a period of quiet reflection, the band came back swinging, citing they had gone back to Hoppus for help with their upcoming album. As hype grew, the band took some unconventional ways of promoting themselves. Pierre spent much of last fall hosting a solo impromptu tour across the US. They also released the singles "Disappear" and "Her Words Destroyed My Planet" to a hungry fan base - who no doubt latched on to the new material.

All this led to this past Tuesday. And lucky for us Boston fans, MCS held an in-store performance at the original Newbury Comics. The store was packed to the gills with kids who graciously sang along to songs like "LG FUAD" and "Fell In Love With You". MCS also played a myriad of new songs, showing their obvious strength and excitement over the new record.

After the surprisingly long set, the band hung around to sign autographs for everyone and their mothers (yes, I did see some mothers there). Casually upbeat, the Minneapolis five-piece took pictures and chatted about everything from music to Pierre's newest project - learning to speak Japanese. Yes people, it's for real, and he's quite good at it, too.

After the crowds cleared, I caught up with bassist Matt Taylor while he shopped for some used CDs. We talked music and he answered some questions which can be seen above. Check it out, and most of all, go get Motion City's latest, My Dinosaur Life. You won't regret it.

Songs To Download: A Lifeless Ordinary (Need A Little Help), Stand Too Close, Hysteria