Motion City Soundtrack

Minneapolis, Minn., is not known for doing many things in 1999. In fact, they’re not known for doing many things ever. However, 1999 was the year that Joshua Cain and Justin Pierre, spurred on by a mutual love of indie rock bands like Superchunk and The Flaming Lips, decided to form a band called Motion City Soundtrack. Tony Thaxton, Matthew Taylor and Jesse Johnson joined the band not much later, and they released “I Am the Movie” in 2003, along with the hit “The Future Freaks Me Out.” Last year, they released a new album, “Commit This to Memory.” This year, they come to Binghamton University.

Motion City Soundtrack is unfairly chained to the pop-punk genre, but they are anything but the standard, whining, repetitive songs from the radio that occupy the same niche. They’re more stylish and intelligent, with lyrics that you don’t feel embarrassed to listen to. Motion City Soundtrack doesn’t “rock” as hard as some other punk bands (e.g. Rancid or Dropkick Murphys), but their lead singer can sing, and their songs don’t deal with obtuse concepts and nameless people who have hurt them in the past. Instead, they feel more grounded, with attention to everyday detail: “I’m sick of the things I do when I’m nervous/Like cleaning the oven or checking my tires” (“Everything is Alright,” from “Commit This to Memory”). All things considered, Motion City Soundtrack is certainly worth your time, if for no other reason but to hear something that is almost similar to the norm, but just different enough to keep things interesting.

Straylight Run

There are a few reasons you should like Straylight Run. First of all, if you’ve ever heard Taking Back Sunday and liked them, Shaun Cooper (bassist) and John Nolan (vocals) got their start there. If you’ve heard Taking Back Sunday and didn’t like them, Cooper and Nolan left them for probably the same reasons. They have a great emo sound, but at the same time bring a few new things to the genre and therefore do not recycle a lot of things that so many other emo bands have done. Also, they’re from Long Island, as are about 112 percent of the students on this campus.

Straylight Run is striking in some ways for their variety; they’re equally adept at slow, contemplative, bare-bones melodies and at faster, livelier sounds. Listening to their albums can sometimes be jarring, as one moment you’re listening to a melancholy, dreamy ballad, and the very next song is laden with power chords. Some songs even join these two opposites, often abruptly. Reading what I’ve just written, you might think Straylight Run is “trying” to be different, but this is not the case. Though diverse in their sound, they blend it all together seamlessly, with a few threads of commonality running throughout.

Hellogoodbye

Hellogoodbye isn’t going to change your life, but on Saturday, this small-time indie band from California will probably make you dance. They’ve become a relatively big success since the band formed in 2001 as a high school recording project, synthesizing power pop onto frontman Forrest Kline’s computer. Their new record is expected in June, and a massive following has gathered to support the foursome known for the personal relationship they have maintained with fans.

Their sound is often described as “powerpop,” so you can expect plenty of the synthesizer that predominates on their hits, “Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn” and “Bonnie Taylor Shakedown.” Their lyrics can be both admirable and ridiculous, but the band is so refreshingly laid-back that you can’t help like how down-to-earth these Orange County natives are.

Most of their songs have that weird ’80s/early-’90s feel that sound a lot like old video games (read: I love Pacman), and the high-pitched and repetitive singing lends itself to something like Spring Fling.

Regardless, their sound obviously appeals to a lot of people, and whether you know them or just stumble into the show on Saturday, Hellgoodbye’s music has more than enough energy to at least put on a decent, if not high-spirited, performance.