Motion City Soundtrack - Panic Stations Album Review

If you're a pop-punk fan, then there's no doubt that you'll have heard of Motion City Soundtrack. With a career that has spanned nearly two decades, these pop-punk masters released their sixth studio album Panic Stations. The album was a concoction which began on the band's tour in the summer of 2013 and was recorded live. Panic Stations began as a 'writing new material for fun scenario', which perhaps leads to the album being the most inconsistent of the discography.

This doesn't mean that this is wildly different from anything Motion City Soundtrack have produced before. All of the key elements within the album are still there and as distinct as ever. But there seems to be no purpose behind the album, other than a spur of the moment idea. Justin Pierre's quirky lyric-writing is often what brings a Motion City Soundtrack to the top of its game, but this is simply not the case with Panic Stations. For example, Lose Control's chorus is essentially just a repetition of 'woah, it's time to lose control'.

Nevertheless, it's not all doom and gloom for the album. The opening track of the album Anything At All is an energetic burst of sound which is typical of a Motion City Soundtrack album. Days Will Run Away and Heavy Boots are the album's saving grace and attempt to prove that Motion City Soundtrack are still the same band with the same musical power. It's A Pleasure To Meet You is somewhat familiar which will please fans of the band. Days Will Run Away is the most heartfelt track on the album and is possibly one of the most reflective and mature songs the band has ever written.

Panic Stations isn't close to being one of the best albums Motion City Soundtrack have ever produced, but some of the tracks on the album could have proudly sat on Commit This To Memory. The inconsistent nature of Panic Stations is what lets the album down, but it is worth a listen just for tracks like Broken Arrow and Days Will Run Away. If a more thought-out process had preceded this album, then it could have been fantastic. But with the band's underlying goal to create music the band enjoyed playing together in one room, it is no surprise that it doesn't seem 100% complete. Nonetheless, it is an enjoyable album that is worth having a listen to.