Epitaph / Ada
2005
Commit This To Memory (Explicit)
About This Album
Like the also-underrated Ultimate Fakebook, Motion City Soundtrack's buoyant sound is informed by their slight age gap from the average pogoing kid. Both bands are eager to find pop-punk's widest point across, a place that includes not only Superchunk and Sunny Day, but classic rock fervor and real vocal melody. And as he proved on 2003's I Am the Movie, Motion City frontman Justin Pierre can actually sing. Which is different from just yelling really loud. His falsetto is silky against the crunchy guitars, giving the band a pop sound even when they're rocking out. Actually, Commit This to Memory doesn't actually rock out that much -- it prefers midrange tracks like "Make Out Kids" or the undeniable "Attractive Today," songs that use Jesse Johnson's moog in conjunction with treated guitar to separate the verses from those big, dynamite, strobe light choruses. Pierre's lyrics have an eye for the mundane detail, too. "I'm sick of the things I do when I'm nervous/Like cleaning the oven or checking my tires," he says in "Everything Is Alright." The details help Motion City Soundtrack, because it makes their wistful memories, tales of breaking up, and frantic searches for answers realer than the next pop-punk combo on the quadruple summertime bill.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,5,6 and 8)

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