Same great lyrics, same great sound: Motion City Soundtrack released their new album Panic Stations on September 18. It is the pop punk we love from the band that gave us “Everything Is Alright”, “The Future Freaks Me Out”, and “L.G FUAD”.

Now we have 11 new songs that take advantage of the band’s signature angsty sound. It takes me back to those nights in seventh grade that I would sit in my room and think about my crush of the moment – the great (maybe sad) part is that the lyrics still give me the same feelings.[su_pullquote align=”right”]“Panic Stations features upbeat tracks that are perfect for forgetting the world and dancing around in your room.”[/su_pullquote]

Nostalgia lurks in the words: “I can’t wait to find you, I really hate that I’m alone” in “I Can Feel You Now” and “You are not alone, we’ve all had our battles with darkness and shadows” in “It’s A Pleasure to Meet You” evoke the cycle of feelings we go through every day – the happy-sad-happy-whatever pattern that I am all too familiar with.

Citypages.com hit the nail on the head when saying pop punk is about “enthusiastically insisting the old [ideas] are still fresh and exciting.”

Motion City Soundtrack definitely does this with their sixth album, and I think it really works. That niche audience just keeps getting bigger as new pre-teens discover the genre and us old people reach college and find ourselves in the middle of existential crises screaming these lyrics in our cars… Not that this has ever happened to me, personally, but I’ve heard about it. Rough stuff.

But I digress.

[su_pullquote]“Listen to the chorus and you have got yourself a great new breakup anthem.”[/su_pullquote]Panic Stations features upbeat tracks that are perfect for forgetting the world and dancing around in your room. If you are into that life like me, check out “Anything At All”, “TKO”, and “The Samurai Code”, some of my favorite uptempo songs from this album. If you are feeling emotional and angsty and just need to wallow, give “Days Will Run Away” a listen.

I would have to admit, though, that my favorite track on the whole album is “Over It Now”. Listen to the chorus and you have got yourself a great new breakup anthem.