It’s so great to have Motion City Soundtrack back and making music again. Panic Stations was their last taste of music that the band offered, back in 2015, and now after the long hiatus, MCS sounds as refreshed and re-energized than they arguably have ever been. The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World feels like the most logical jumping off point from Motion City Soundtrack’s adored 2010 LP of My Dinosaur Life, and front-man Justin Pierre still remains his quirky and captivating self on this 11-song set produced by Sean O’Keefe (Fall Out Boy, Punchline). “I think that if you look at a lot of our past records, it’s about ‘What’s wrong? What am I not getting right? Why do I feel fucking crazy? Why can’t I figure this out’…and I figured it out,” front-man Justin Pierre admits. “It’s almost like I felt I didn’t have an identity [in the past] and now by working through the hard stuff, I know who I am.” By finding comfort in the past noise and figuring out the person he wants to be moving forward, Justin Pierre and his other four bandmates have crated a record that not only lives up to the band’s legacy, but provides a reinvigorated look at Motion City Soundtrack as a whole.

With all the personal issues that vocalist and guitarist Justin Pierre has faced over the course of his life, it’s sometimes hard to believe that Motion City Soundtrack remains a band. With the addictions and relapses plaguing Pierre, the band should have been extinct years ago. But having a great support system around him and a musical outlet has helped Pierre and his band mates release stellar album after album. You would think that eventually things would spin out of control, especially after the lukewarm reception their last offering (2007’s Even If It Kills Me) received from fans. It definitely was more poppy than previous releases, and instead of tailspinning, the Minneapolis quintet landed right back on its feet to record their Columbia Records debut.

Here we are again, Motion City Soundtrack and I. Our sizzling nerd sex is back with their third Epitaph release, Even If It Kills Me. Of course, the question here is not if the performance will be up to par. The question here is whether it will blow me out of the water, in which Justin Pierre and crew are certainly capable. I Am The Movie is justifiably priceless and Commit This To Memory is a careful and successful step into a growing style and sound. When I first heard Even If It Kills Me, I felt the hooks, felt the clever shapes, and felt what could be, but it needed to grow. Now, moments away from release day, MCS are wrapping their vines around my ankles and reeling me in like a helpless fish. What a turn-on.

Having garnered much praise and acclaim for their Moog-laced, high-octane, pop-tinged, full length debut I Am the Movie, expectations for Motion City Soundtrack’s follow-up, Commit This to Memory, were astronomically high, especially with Mark Hoppus of Blink 182 fame on board as producer. So, with all the build-up and the big name attached to the project, did Motion City Soundtrack deliver? Absolutely, and then some.