This was orginially written in Dutch for festivalinfo, that version can be read here.
Motion City Soundtrack, formed in Minneapolis in 1999, supported Blink 182 on their tour through Europe and Japan this year. Their first album titled I Am The Movie was quite succesful in the USA, they hope to get some airplay in Europe as well with this second release.
Right from the start this record cheers you up. Motion City Soundtrack plays happy pop with a slight punky edge. This second album was produced by Blink's bassplayer Mark Hoppus, who needed something new to do with the split of his own band. This was his first attempt at producing.
The result is a happy and bouncy cd, but nothing new. Overall, the album has a very American sound and it's overproduced; all the songs sound alike. You will be able to sing along to most of the album the second time you hear it and the similarity of the songs gets boring quickly. It's a nice album to play in your car on a hot day, mostly for 15 year old girls who love Avril Lavigne and Simple Plan. Or Blink of course. They remind me of one-hit-wonder Nine Days who topped the charts with Absolutely (story of a girl) a few years ago. I wonder if MCS will be around longer than them.
Verdict: I have seen a lot of very positive reviews for this album, but I couldn't get into it. Some tracks sound like they have been written by my 15 year old neighbour. Maybe they're good live, but this album will remain in it's case.