These are superbly trained musicians; experimentation with sound is prevalent throughout the album and I couldn’t help but feel that a CD recording cannot do Motion Soundtrack justice; this is a group that needs to be heard live, in a club venue, where their musicianship can be truly appreciated. I can imagine them extending their 3-4 minute CD length tracks to 8 or 9 minutes, dazzling the audience with extensive instrumental interludes. I have yet to see this group live, but I am confident enough in their musical talent to say that when they return to town I will definitely be there.
For an anglophile like me, The Bridge was a pleasant surprise; Motion Soundtrack’s sound, more British than Canadian, can be best described as an Oasis meets Radiohead inspired alt-rock. Mark Wild’s nasal, gravelly voice is predominant on all the tracks, and it is a refreshing sound. Unlike many freshman efforts, The Bridge is a diverse album. The boys show off their predilection for catchy hooks and melodies on up-tempo songs like “Self Made,” while guitar riffs dominate on “I Get Lost.”
The tracks “What Have You Done” and “Lion’s Gate” afford the band an opportunity to show off their musical talents as they contain lengthy instrumental sections. “What Have You Done,” a ballad, is reminiscent of the 60s British invasion sound. “Falling” is almost danceable. The band eschews classification and wavers between rock, pop, and alt-rock.
While the lyrics are not exactly thought provoking or witty—“nobody’s gonna make you, you do it yourself/if you think that you were made to, than what the hell”— I found that I didn’t really mind – musicianship is clearly this band’s strength, songwriting can come later. Their sound is so powerful that it more than compensates for their, at times, banal lyrics, and it has the capacity to evoke the strong emotions that other bands rely on their lyrics to generate.
Managed by Nettwerk, representatives for Canadian superstars Avril Lavigne and Sum 41, we can expect big things from this group in the future. Although they have received steady play on local Canadian radio stations and Much Music, the band will need to covet the ever so influential American college rock stations if they hope to achieve international recognition.
