Motion City Soundtrack - The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World (September 19, 2025) • Page 15

I’m sure there were people who shit on CTTM as well, but I am going to assume you ignored it because you enjoy that album. Why do you care about anyone’s negative opinions of their other albums in that case?

 

regarding TBS? this is all opinion and nothing is fact. you're right, there might be people that don't like CTTM but to me it's their masterpiece. new again and 152 are my favourite TBS records the same way self titled and louder now are others favourites. there's no conclusion to this conversation, i was just stating how i felt about modern music and i know i'm wrong by general consensus. i just don't have an emotional connection to it so right now so hearing new MCS, starting line, armor for sleep etc.. and other bands of the scene just blends together for me. piggybacking off what jason said, when you experience life stuff you hear things differently, my life just hasn't been interesting in a while so i'm not creating that emotional experience to have a different perspective. one day when i feel more positive i guarantee i'll look back on these records and enjoy them more.

 

I think it's because we're older. I sing She Is Afraid's chorus all the time because it's great

 

I was humming You Know Who The Fuck We Are in the past day.

 

Right up there with some of their best hooks…catchy af

 

Lol, coming back in here and realizing I did not understand the context of the post @Jason Tate tagged me in.

 

The day it was released, Your Days Are Numbered was #2 on the iTunes alternative charts. As I type this it’s at #12.

 

Anyway, I really think you have to train your brain to appreciate music in a different way once you get past those formative years of, like, 13-23. Such an insane amount of shit happens to you during that decade of your life, so it's natural that all your reactions to music would be extremely heightened. And those reactions are sharpened even more by the fact that you just haven't heard that much music yet, so you're more likely to find whatever you do hear to be extremely groundbreaking and life-changing.

I think, as you get older, you're going to have less of those life-changing music moments. But music can and should continue to live in your life, and to be a companion, at least if you really care about it. A lot of people don't care about it that much, and so they just consign themselves to treating it like background music. That sounds fucking miserable to me, so I continue to put in a lot of effort into discovering and rediscovering music, and giving it the space in my life to make a profound impact. Which it does!

Writing the My Life In 35 Songs series has been super interesting into this regard, because a bunch of the songs are clustered into that 13-23 period. I'm on chapter 22 this week, and I'm up to when I was 21 years old. But the cool part is that the last 10 installments of this series are, by and large, my favorite part, and I'm psyched to share them in the coming months. They are so much deeper than the earlier chapters, because I just think about and connect with music in much more profound and complex ways in adulthood than I did when I was a child or a teenager, or even a twentysomething college student.

 

It’s been a week of takes and I’m making everyone experience them with me.

 

Not trying to make this sound all Influencer Hustler Boner Pills host or whatever, but I do think there’s also a mental angle of letting yourself fall in love in a different way. If you think the only love of your life is going to feel like the first crush, you’ll spend your whole life alone or bitterly disappointed. You have to mentally allow yourself to experience love, music, life, in how it is right now - not the vision in your head - not how it was when you were in high-school - and you’ll find ways to let it imprint in all new ways. Life can’t end at 18. That would be so so utterly sad and I refuse to spend my life chasing something I’ll never have again instead of framing where I am now and how I can let things move me today. (And if you heard your parents say all the good music was already made when you were 16 you rightfully rolled your eyes.)

 

you all seem so normal.

 

I’ve been lurking for a while (hi!) but finally made an account because I’ve been so excited about the new stuff from The Starting Line, MCS, AFI, La Dispute, Algernon Cadwallader, Pile, etc., that I wanted to get a chance to chat about them a bit. And it’s not like I’m ride or die (I fell off MCS before/during My Dinosaur Life), it’s the songs! The songs are good! The new Starting Line songs make me feel invincible!!

Also, if 152 is one of your favorite TBS albums you’re invalidating your own arguments, no? Some new albums have connected with you, which is cool, and it’s fine if you don’t like everything. Maybe you just need to branch out and find genres besides pop punk or whatever. Or go sit in a park or something.

 

Shout-out to 152, I can’t believe I like that album as much as I do

 

This is the best song so far. Agreed.

 

Yeah, Your Days Are Numbered rules, I like everything so far but it's easily my favorite of the three.

 

I’m 39 and new music still hits me just as hard as it did when I was a kid sometimes.

 

And look, I am the most openly nostalgic person I know, but you can have a lot of fondness for the music of your past, and continue to listen to that music often, without turning yourself off to new experiences.

The thing is, I think we'd all probably acknowledge that your viewpoint (the "the best period of music magically aligned with when I was young" viewpoint) is the norm! Most people feel that way. But most people also don't interrogate WHY they feel that way, either. And just because that's "normal" doesn't make it healthy, or accurate, or anything other than the jaded, self-defeating philosophy that it is.

Anyway, you're definitely not going to make anyone on this website feel bad for...liking new music? I'm glad we're all obsessed psychos.

 

I've done the same. Or if I know a friend likes a certain artist, I'll put a record by them on the player even if I have no intention of playing it.

This is kind of off topic but reminded me of a few years ago after Santa Con, and bit too much to drink, I put on the new Alvvays record and drunkenly forced my friends to listen to the full thing when we got back to my house haha.

 

lmao

I can't help but feel we've all taken the bait or are trying to reason with a very depressed person (I mean that genuinely - if nothing in life brings you joy, it may be time to talk to a professional), but regardless, good conversations being had in here. I think "chasing" that feeling of the music that made me as a teenager has led me to checking out a LOT of artists I never thought I would or could get into. I'm currently doing a deep-dive on Neil Young. Next month, it could be ICP. Who knows! But the journey remains fun and I always wind up walking away with a new appreciate for a certain genre or artist, and probably some new favorite songs, too.

 

I have always loved discovering new music. Not just *new* music, but also older music that I've never heard. One thing I've been doing for awhile now is looking for older obscure 80s post punk/pop bands and 90s emo bands. There is soooo much gold out there that I have found, and so much more that I haven't heard yet. If newer music feels too polished or bland or just isn't doing it for you, I'd suggest digging through archives of obscure older stuff of genres you love.

 

New ICP album has a few fun tracks

 

This may be true but I’m glad they had the courage to be honest about their thoughts because it led to some amazing discussion and affirmation (speaking for myself) of the fact I’m not alone with continuing to love new music from old bands. And I’m glad a lot of people decided to listen and respond kindly to them instead of attacking, because we need more listening these days. I hope they eventually feel better, find a more open mindset and maybe find some inspiration from the warmth and passion emanating from this thread/place.

 

Yeah I pretty much do the same. I’ve discovered so much great stuff

 

Last.fm, RateYourMusic, YouTube are all great resources for finding stuff. Where do you usually search?

 

For anyone, especially @jesseisabigdeal, who might want to discover some older gems, check this out.

Commit This to Memory came out in 2005, so I looked up other 2005 emo albums that are highly rated:
https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/2005/g:emo/

Look up ones that seem cool and new to you. Most of them are typically on the streaming services and/or YouTube. Find some songs you like, throw them all into a playlist, and share it here if you want! I'd love to hear some new stuff. There's a quite a few on this list I haven't heard of.