Review

Motion City Soundtrack threw us a bit of a curveball. It's not uncommon for bands to release a debut album, or a sophmore (slump) album that has an identity crisis. It's part of the growing process for many bands. What we didn't see coming was this crisis on the fourth studio album (and second produced by Mark Hoppus) from an otherwise polished and accomplished band. You'll get everything on this album from MCS at their pop/punk best ("Her Words Destroyed My Planet") to throwback Eve 6 circa 1998 ("Pulp Fiction") and a pseudo O.A.R derivative ("History Lesson").

How did this happen? My Dinosaur Life features Motion City Soundtrack at their most angst filled and conflicted; where they previously funneled negative energy into positive, swift pop/punk songs they now veer into the more drawn out and deliberate melodrama. Lyrics that include "Swirling overhead like angry clouds of discontent" now permeate the album and sap some of the life out of it.

It's not all bad news though; "The Weakends" and "Stand Too Close" prove that MCS can take this new direction and produce catchy songs that now have a lot more heart and emotion. However, the fine line between these songs and classic MCS ("Disapper") is hard to straddle, which leaves us with a fairly inconsistent album.

Overall, My Dinosaur Life is still a good album in it's genre, but it's missing the energy and the frantic "punch" prior albums thrived on. We just hope vocalist Justin Pierre isn't referring to the career (and ultimate discography) of Motion City Soundtrack when he states "I'm great at first but the magic fades..."

Review by Jason Schleweis

3 out of 5