My Dinosaur Life is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Motion City Soundtrack. Produced by Mark Hoppus, the album was released on January 19, 2010 by Columbia Records. After many years on independent label Epitaph Records, Motion City Soundtrack signed to major label Columbia in 2006, prior to the release of their third album, Even If It Kills Me (2007). Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus returned to produce the album; he had previously worked with the band on their 2005 breakthrough Commit This to Memory.
The album was largely recorded at Opra Music Studios in North Hollywood, California. The album's themes largely center on growing older; its lyricism, written by Pierre, concerns such subjects as relationships, drug abuse, and procrastination. Musically, the album retains the band's sound with less of an emphasis on the Moog synthesizer. Drummer Tony Thaxton broke his arm prior to recording, which led the band to use a drum machine on early recordings.
Their only major-label release, My Dinosaur Life was well received by music critics. The album represented their highest peak position in the U.S., charting at number fifteen on the Billboard 200. In support of the album, the group toured worldwide, making appearances in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan.
Recording and production
After releasing three records on the independent Epitaph label, Motion City Soundtrack signed a multiple-album deal with Columbia Records in late 2006, months before releasing their previous album Even If It Kills Me. Following the move, the guitarist Joshua Cain said, "It just felt right to make the move when there was the right interest there." With the new signing, the band's promotional team aimed to develop a balance between the benefits of a new major label and their previous grass-roots approach.
The album was produced by the Blink-182 frontman Mark Hoppus, who also worked with the band for their second album, Commit This to Memory. Hoppus said that the band wanted to follow in the tracks of Commit This to Memory, but to push things further. He said the album would incorporate a heavier, more experimental side of the group. "There's an edge on this record that I'm really excited about getting into," he said, "But it still has all the catchiness of everything that I personally love about Motion City Soundtrack. As a fan, it's really exciting to get to work with them again and help them flesh out this new vision of themselves." Pierre later recalled that the atmosphere in the studio was more loose than their first time working with Hoppus.
The band announced that they were to begin recording sessions with Hoppus in April 2009. Due to drummer Tony Thaxton's broken arm, the band were forced to rearrange the sequence in which they recorded. The drums were replaced by electronic beats and drum machines until Thaxton was able to play properly in the last week of recording. It was confirmed that recording had been completed on June 28, 2009.
Music and lyrics
The band picked the title My Dinosaur Life after a quote Pierre kept repeating—they felt it a nice representation of the album's themes, which include growing old and feeling out of place. The album title was derived from frontman Justin Pierre misquoting a line ("My dragon life") from the 2008 film American Teen. The album's music is inspired by post-hardcore music; Pierre cited Archers of Loaf, Fugazi, and Dinosaur Jr. as inspirations for the album's sound. "Worker Bee" was chosen to open the album due to its short, energetic, "to-the-point" tone. Pierre created the song on his own at home, later bringing the completed music to the band. "A Life Less Ordinary (Need A Little Help)" came about early in the writing process. Pierre wrote the song quickly as the group had an opportunity to record it with producer John Fields, though they would eventually re-record it with Hoppus. Pierre took the title from the film A Life Less Ordinary, though it has "nothing to do with that film"; he interpreted it as wishing for a more rigid, "normal" life as opposed to self-destructive behavior.