Motion City Soundtrack pose.

Motion City Soundtrack pose. Credit: AP

With "My Dinosaur Life" (Columbia), the charming Minnesota rockers' major-label debut, Motion City Soundtrack moves forward by looking back.

Produced by Blink-182's Mark Hoppus, "Dinosaur" is stuffed with the influence of '90s-era alternative rock. The raging first single, "Disappear," binds Justin Pierre's distinctly current vocal style to the rockier elements of early Soul Asylum and Goo Goo Dolls. There are bits of Blink in "Pulp Fiction" and of Weezer in "Worker Bee" that battle with MCS' already-established power-pop sound. In the end, though, the songs win out.

MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK "My Dinosaur Life"

Grade: B+

Bottom line: Power pop with a new surge of energy

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