Motion City Soundtrack

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.