Motion City Soundtrack is an American rock band that formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1997. The band's line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Justin Courtney Pierre, lead guitarist Joshua Cain, keyboardist Jesse Johnson, bassist Matthew Taylor, and drummer Tony Thaxton. Over the course of their career, the group has toured heavily and released six studio albums, the majority on independent label Epitaph Records. The band's sound, at times described as pop-punk or emo, makes notable use of the Moog synthesizer. Pierre mainly handles the band's lyrics, which often touch on themes of anxiety, alienation, relationships, and self-destructive behavior. The band was founded by Cain and Pierre, and it took several years to form a stable lineup. I Am the Movie, the group's debut album, was released in 2003. Their commercial breakthrough, Commit This to Memory, arrived in 2005, and its follow-up Even If It Kills Me (2007) was similarly successful. For many years, the band was a staple of the Warped Tour. They briefly signed to major label Columbia for My Dinosaur Life (2010), but rejoined Epitaph for Go in 2012. Their most recent effort, Panic Stations, was released in 2015. The group disbanded the following year, but they announced a reunion in 2019. History Formation and early years (1997–2003) Motion City Soundtrack was formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1997 by singer-songwriter Justin Courtney Pierre and guitarist Joshua Cain. Previously, the duo had separately played in a number of bands. Cain was in a group named the Saddest Girl Story, and recruited Pierre to join as a singer. He was subsequently in a band called Boxcar, and following its dissolution, he and Pierre founded Motion City Soundtrack together. The band's name was inspired by a defunct film project that was originally created by Cain's brother, Brian. Their early days were difficult, as they found it hard to break out of their local scene. When they could get weeks off from their jobs, they would tour. According to Cain, the members of the band soon realized that there "wasn't really anywhere to play [shows] in Minneapolis", and that they would have to "tour all the time" to rise in popularity. In its early years, the group went through several lineup changes. Through these, Cain and Pierre would often have to take over keyboard duties during shows. The group's first release was a 7-inch single, "Promenade / Carolina", released in 1999. Their