Motion City Soundtrack

Commit This To Memory (2005)

cronophrog

When I Am The Movie came out, I thought I had found musical bliss. Amidst the growing love of bands like Simple Plan, New Found Glory, and Sugarcul, MCS was a very welcome divertissement from such -- ahem -- shit. Not a flawless record of course, IATM was a helluva fun one. Now 4 years later, MCS has released a well-crafted followup that reminds of their previous album, but never rehashes.

Commit This To Memory succeeds on the same basis as its predecessor, and this is certainly not a bad thing, as being similar to IATM is the thematic content of this record. In an age of poorly crafted lyrics and pretentious-sounding singers, Pierre's songs of dependence, drug use, nostalgia, emptiness, and even relationships come off as surprisingly truthful.

CTTM is not simply a second IATM, as MCS shows great maturity as a band. The record flows much more smoothly than IATM, as the only out of place songs are the first ("Attractive Today" is a pathetic opening and "Everything is Alright" really picks up where "A-OK" left off, and would have been a great opener) and last ("Hold Me Down" drags on way too long and ends a really well done record on a boring note). "When You're Around" is the probable "single" of the record; it's ridiculously catchy and sticks out on the first listen of the record. "Resolution" has perhaps the best lyrics on the record and puts to shame all other current songs about relationships. "Feel Like Rain," "Make Out Kids" (which sounds exactly like "Red Dress" for the first two seconds), and "Time Turn Fragile" are certainly going to be played at every MCS show on their next tour and lead up perfectly to "Lgfuad," a softer song that showcases Pierre's lyricism. "Better Open The Door" is getting a lot of shit thrown at it because it "sounds like Hoppus." I think it sounds like MCS and kicks ass like MCS. The tenth track, "Together We'll Ring In The New Year," recalls the earlier "Resolution" but the line "These humans all suck / I'd rather be home feeling violent and lonely" makes this short song worth every second, which brings us to "Hangman." In my opinion, "Hangman" is where this record ends. It is an amazing final track and almost as good of a closer as "A-OK;" I can hardly wait to hear it live. Unfortunately, it isn't the end of the record. "Hold Me Down" is long filler and poorly placed at the end, so I usually just end this record one song early.

MCS continues to rise above every other Epitaph band (save HWM and BR), and CTTM gives hope that they will continue to release records that entertain an audience with a slightly higher IQ and taste for music than everything else that is "scene" these days.