Motion City Soundtrack - I Am the Movie

Motion City Soundtrack
I Am the Movie
Epitaph Records
Grade: A-

The Minneapolis quintet of the Motion City Soundtrack are one of those bands that you are constantly hearing about but rarely actually hear. By the amount of attention that Epitaph has given MCS over the past year, you would have thought this album came out two years ago. Though wetting people's appetites with a split on Doghouse - I Am the Movie clearly shows why Epitaph is all high on this band. Initially formed in 1999 and after several lineup changes, the band headed out to the plains of Kansas to record with probably the hottest indie producer in the country right now, Ed Rose. Seriously, Rose is punching out so many rocking records recently that it did not come as a surprise his hands were on this after a quick listen to the fourteen tracks. With signing to Epitaph, MCS were able to go back to Lawrence and put finish touches to the initial "rough" version. Often when I'm working on the computer - and lacking listening material - I put on the Launch "punk" station. And, hence, several of the tracks from I Am the Movie were quite familiar to me before I spun the disk. Specifically, "The Future Freaks Me Out" and "My Favorite Accident" drew quick attention and awe. "The Future Freaks Me Out" is a track that you have surely heard but may not have known who it was. Unlike most of the other tracks, it is brimming with pop goodness and finds lead singer Justin Pierre hitting some high notes. One of the elements that quickly comes to attention with MCS is the sweetly layered keyboards (Moog) from Jesse Johnson. This then draws easy comparisons to bands like All-American Rejects and, yet, they present a much fuller portfolio. An example of this is the amazing track "Indoor Living" - a track that has a similar feel to the great Dismemberment Plan songs. This is mostly due to Pierre varying the intensity between verse and chorus and the buzzing keyboard lead ins. With the Plan RIP now, people searching for comparable love may and should gravitate to MCS. Other standout tracks on the record include "Perfect Teeth," "Capital H," "Autographs and Apologies" and "A-Ok." If Motion City Soundtrack are able to match the clarity and sweetness of this recording - and most reports say so - then they will be a force to reckon with in the coming years.