Even If It Kills Me Review
Marching in with hype and top-level producers, Motion City Soundtrack is clearly looking to make a statement within the music industry, that pop punk/rock is not dead, but it still lives on. With Fountains of Wayne frontman Adam Schlesinger and The Cars' Ric Ocasek in tow, they look to conquer a kingdom somewhere. Strangely enough, it may be the tools that make this sculpture have some of its most glaring flaws.
Probably the most noticeable lowlight of the album is "The Conversation," a standard piano ballad that comes off more insincere than it does emotional. Other than that, the band produces an album full of strong, but not necessarily memorable tracks. Case in point: "Broken Heart." And even the strongest tracks suffer from attributes I attribute to the producers. The back-half of "Hello Helicopter" is a good example, as it turns from an original and emotional track to too much of a pop rock emo fest.
And yes, the album does minorly earn it's language warning sticker. They throw around a few S-words, a F-word or two, but the strange thing is that it seems like the band is just throwing them around just to either sound cool, or be more mature. Let's just say, I could have done without them, but they neither hinder nor help the album to a great degree.
Pop punk highlights include the fun "This Is For Real," whose music video is a must-see. "Can't Finish What You Started," and "Where I Belong" also finish what they set out to do. In terms of highlights, the band puts probably puts out their best and/or second-best in the one-two punch of the quirky "Antonia," and "Even If It Kills Me," which is a strong set, finding its place in the back-half of the song. However, "Antonia" does lose a little momentum everytime the song leaves its verses.
Overall, Motion City Soundtrack lives up the hype and produces a strong set of songs, which wind up to be the band's best, by far. They come up with some catchy and fun pop punk/rock, adding a sense of quirk to the album. However, aside from the strong but unmemorable songs, the band makes little mistakes that take away from songs.
Looking to the credits however, a pattern emerges. Its impressive duel-producers seem to be the cause of the problem. While Ocasek is consistent in the album, Schlesinger is largely inconsistent, of course specializing in the pop punk songs, but faltering elsewhere. Little mistakes hinder the album, but if you're looking for a fun pop punk/rock album with variety and quirk, then this is the CD for you.
Even If It Kills Me Overview
Their third release is a pop masterpiece; a smart, catchy album filled with infectious songs from start to finish. It recalls the clever pop of such iconic records as Weezer's "Blue Album", combined with a sophistication and haunting honesty that puts them in league with indie auteurs like Death Cab For Cutie. For fans of Weezer, All American Rejects, Fall Out Boy, and Green Day. Produced by Fountain Of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger and former Cars frontman Ric Ocasek.
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