MCS: More Catchy Sounds

The third album from Minneapolis-based pop-punk band Motion City Soundtrack, Even If It Kills Me, hit stores this week. While the full-length boasts all of the things MCS fans have come to know and love – catchy beats, biting lyrics and vocalist Justin Pierre’s distinct voice – nothing separates the new release from the band’s previous efforts.

Featuring a trio of producers including Ric Ocasek (of The Cars), Adam Schlesinger (of Fountains of Wayne) and Eli Janney (of Girls Against Boys), the album successfully blends nerd rock with futuristic synth-pop to create the band’s familiar sound. But the reliance on the familiar prevents any musical growth.

Opening with the brashly titled “I Fell In Love Without You,” this upbeat track sets the pace for most of the album, introducing the trademark synth-based pop-punk that helped Motion City Soundtrack take over the airwaves last year.

Next up is the undeniably catchy “This Is For Real.” It’s followed up by the similarly catchy “It Had To Be You” and “Calling All Cops,” both of which could’ve easily been found on Commit This To Memory. Sandwiched between the two tracks is “Last Night,” a poppy song that strongly resembles “Hold Me Down,” also off the band’s last record.

If you think this sounds repetitive, it is.

Each track is musically indistinguishable from the last, with a few exceptions: The self-produced piano ballad, “The Conversation,” slows things down, offering a welcome deviation from the rest of the tracks, before leading into the predictable first single “Broken Heart.”

Four forgettable tracks later, the album wraps up with the disappointing title track, which fails to capture the energy of the other songs on the disc.

Motion City Soundtrack’s hesitance to break away from a formula that has garnered their past success may be both a blessing and a curse. Fans already familiar with the band’s style might enjoy Even If It Kills Me, but other already disinterested listeners are sure to find it boring and unoriginal.