It is nearly impossible to extricate My Dinosaur Life from the concept of irony. It's inescapable, saturating every note, theme, and lyric that Motion City Soundtrack play and singer Justin Pierre sings. Listening to first track, "Worker Bee", in which Pierre screams "I've been a good worker bee. I deserve a GOLD STAR!", one can imagine the tech assistants snickering during the recording. The problem with My Dinosaur Life is that, in this same scenario, Pierre would probably look at them with a puzzled look, wondering why anyone would laugh at his seemingly serious lyrics. You see, with the release of My Dinosaur Life, it would appear Motion City Soundtrack have come down with the same ailment that has afflicted Weezer for nearly a decade. Instead of using irony as a tool to mold an identity for their sound, MCS have allowed irony to become their identity. It is no coincidence that My Dinosaur Life houses music widely different from Motion City Soundtrack's past releases. Those previous three albums' tunes revolved around themes of unsureness and vulnerability, Pierre's emotive voice fitting the material to an almost uncomfortable degree. Now, however, it sounds as if Motion City Soundtrack have finally gathered a confidence in their craft. Unfortunately for them, this results in an enormous drop-off in quality; confidence in spewing cringeworthy non sequiturs and nauseating pop culture references. So, ultimately, the good news is that MCS have finally found their identity, but the bad news is that identity entails the abandonment of all the elements that made them identifiable. How ironic.
No comments:
Post a Comment