The first time I put this album on, I swore it sounded like Even If It Kills Me. Granted it was on shuffle and I didn’t realize that it was out of order, but the first few songs made me cringe slightly. Seems almost more impressive now that I’ve listened to it a few times, because this album had to work really hard to win me over. If you read my review on the first single from this album, Disappear, I kinda went off on a long tangent on how the producers really affected how the album sounded. Well, I would take some of that back and say that maybe the producer was only half of the issue. The band still has the pop sensibilities they did on their last album, but this album at least brought back some of their former edginess.

The good songs on this album sound more like Commit This to Memory era songs. The drums are pretty unique and well thought out as they usually are at the hands of Tony Thaxton. Besides the choruses mostly being basic power chords, the verses contain some pretty unique instrumentation. Guitarist Josh Cain is usually known for this, even amongst peers like producer Mark Hoppus, but even the bass was used much more skillfully this album, using it for lead verse riffs on at least one song. Most songs mix all these things together, with the synth I missed oh-so-much on their first single. On songs where the guitar isn’t anything special, the synth really picks up the slack as a strong lead. I think this shines best on “Hysteria,” which isn’t as good as “Hysteria” by Muse, but much better than “Hysteria” by Def Leppard.

Justin is back to singing slightly typical lyrics for himself, mostly about pop culture, awkward loneliness, and of course, pills. One song even boasts a chorus of primarily “I swear to pharmaceuticals.” He also name drops things from Veronica Mars to The Legend of Zelda and even wrote a song called “Pulp Fiction.” Little quirky elements like this have always been just another reason why Motion City has had such appeal to me.

There are a few tracks I don’t really like, though, which is in extreme contrast to their previous albums which are completely love or hate for me. I don’t care what anyone says, “History Lesson” sounds just like it could be a Dropkick Murphys song. I don’t know if it’s the vocal melody or what, but that songs just sounds like Irish punk to me. The other couple songs I didn’t like were just because of how simple and radio friendly they sounded, it just reminded me of 13 year olds’ music. Again, I’m surprised how much this album changed my mind, and a few songs aside I really think this turned out to be a good album. Mostly I’m just glad that there’s not another MCS album out there I choose to just ignore.