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Staff IconMotion City Soundtrack - Back To The Beat (Cover Artwork)

Motion City Soundtrack

Back To The Beat (2001)
Modern Radio

Reviewer Rating:


Contributed by: Scott
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Published on April 23rd 2001


When was the last time you heard a band on CD that sounded like they were just having a good time? I know it's been a while for me. But that dry spell stops right now with Motion City Soundtrack. Motion City Soundtrack is just that -- a soundtrack for doing fun things. They have a great singer, fantastic hooks, and an all-around *fun* sound. The overall vibe is that of the Get Up Kids, but it's not too obvious -- yes, MCS does use keyboards and the singer has the same sort of high-pitched voice, but it's not too derivative. This all-too-short CDEP kicks off with "Capital H," a ridiculously poppy number which will have you singing "I'll be back tomorrowwww..." in your sleep. "Throw Down" keeps the fun going with a strong guitar part and rollicking drums. "The Here Away" is the most ballad-ish of the 5 songs, but the best part about it is that it's less than 2 and a half minutes, so before it gets too sappy it ends. "Opening Night" has some slightly off-key vocals in the chorus, but it's forgivable since the song itself is so damn good. "Back To The Beat" finishes off the CD with just vocals and guitar for a short minute, followed up by a distorted drumbeat closing the song. The whole CD clocks in at under 12 minutes, but what a wonderful 12 minutes those are. This is a band I am now dying to see live. If they can sound like they're having this much fun on recording, who knows how good they are in front of a crowd? I for one intend to find out, and I hope you decide to as well. Motion City Soundtrack has all the working parts to become huge, so keep an eye on them.



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    Anonymous (March 29, 2003)

    swell sound. yea i live in their home town of minneapolis and it was hard for me to find any of their CDs. They will do well on Epitaph. i can't wait. :-)

    Anonymous (April 8, 2002)

    I agree with Scott these guys are having a lot of fun for sure. Some slightly dubious vocals but that adds to individuality of the band and the whole carless attitude. Shame they have only released 5 tracks, go to audio galaxy whoever asked.

    jacobk (December 2, 2001)

    how do we get our hands on a copy of this?

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