Motion City Soundtrack formed in Minneapolis in 1997, wiring Moog synthesizer into anxious, hook-loaded pop punk. Commit This to Memory (2005), produced by Blink-182's Mark Hoppus, is the classic — the band went on hiatus in 2016 and returned in 2020. Shop Motion City Soundtrack vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Motion City Soundtrack formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1997 around Justin Pierre and Joshua Cain. They are widely cited as one of the foundational acts of the mid-2000s pop punk and emo scenes alongside contemporaries like Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, and the Wonder Years. Their distinctive use of Moog synthesizer in their pop punk arrangements (via Jesse Johnson's contributions) became a defining stylistic element. Their 2005 album Commit This to Memory (produced by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182) was a commercial breakthrough. They went on indefinite hiatus in 2016 and reunited in 2020 for ongoing touring activity.
Motion City Soundtrack's sound combines pop punk, indie rock, emo, alternative rock, power pop, and synth-pop with Pierre's distinctive vocal delivery, the band's signature Moog synthesizer-driven arrangements, and lyrical content addressing relationships, anxiety, depression, and personal experience.
Epitaph Records and Columbia pressings of the Motion City Soundtrack catalog have been issued in multiple color variant editions and limited deluxe pressings.
Listeners new to Motion City Soundtrack typically start with Commit This to Memory (2005).
