Looks like that’s it, folks. Motion City Soundtrack, the band behind such hits as “Everything is Alright” and “The Future Freaks Me Out,” has called it quits. For fans, well, it’s hard to believe that everything will be alright, because a future without music from MCS sounds like a freaky one indeed.
The band is now on a “So Long, Farewell Tour” across the United States. Fans have one last time to witness MCS’s noteworthy and eccentric stage presence. Lead singer Justin Pierre is probably at a venue right now, swinging his hair and screaming “When You’re Around” one last time (at least we’re hoping).
Motion City Soundtrack added something significant to early 2000s pop punk, helping a generation of off-kilter rock lovers fall in love with a Moog synth-laced alternative sound. Throughout the early years of their career, their songs ranged from in-your-face-despair (“LGFUAD,” “Everything is Alright”) to heartfelt and intoxicating (“Antonia,” “This is for Real”). Underneath it all was a complex level of angst, confusion and most prominently, love.
Photos: Epitaph Records.
The band’s tone and style leveled out a bit later on, finding a good medium between spontaneity and melody. Albums like My Dinosaur Life, Go and their latest outing, Panic Stations, churned out reliable tracks from a band whose fan base has ever-evolving love for their evolving music.
Acclaimed tracks like “Her Words Destroyed My Planet” elevated the band to mainstream success once again. Positive reviews from critics and fans alike continued to flood in for their all their albums.
But earlier this year in a post on their Facebook page, Motion City Soundtrack announced their indefinite hiatus as a band. “We have no idea what the future holds, but for now we are done,” the post read. After almost 20 years full of label changes, babies, sold-out tours, member changes, top chart successes, acoustic tours and everything else you can think of, the MCS era is coming to an end. It’s a hard pill to swallow for fans, and surely, the band members themselves.
But the decades of music from such a reliably unique band will continue to live on for years to come: in our minds, in our hearts and on our playlists.
The future without Motion City Soundtrack sounds pretty sad. But fans can go on one last wild ride with the band during this string of farewell shows. Catch MCS at the Fillmore Charlotte next Wednesday, August 10 with A Great Big Pile of Leaves and Rozwell Kid.
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