Motion City Soundtrack do Rilo Kiley's "Pictures Of Success" serious justice.

Pop-punk pioneers Motion City Soundtrack have been in the game for years (they first got together in, wait for it...1999), releasing such genre standby albums as 2003's I Am The Movie, Even If It Kills Me, My Dinosaur Life, and most recently Go in 2012. All the while, the crew has toured with everyone from blink-182 to OK Go and has worked with pop-punk vets like Mark Hoppus (from the aforementioned blink-182), the Get Up Kids' Ed Rose, and Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger. Plus, they've played Warped Tour so many times I've lost count. How's that for some cred?? We're pretty sure it doesn't get more credible than that. In fact, it's probably because MCT has so much cred that they covered Rilo Kiley's classic indie jam "Pictures Of Success" with such great, well, SUCCESS.

Listen to Motion City Soundtrack cover Rilo Kiley's "Pictures Of Success" after the jump.

In a move of punk-rock irony, Motion City Soundtrack take things down a notch to simplify Rilo Kiley's already minimal track, only utilizing some tinny-sounding guitar and Justin Pierre's mournful vocals. Justin honors Jenny Lewis' original vulnerable female delivery; his own soft, echoey pipes are easily "Pictures Of Success"'s main attraction: "I'm a modern, girl, but I fold in half so easily/ when I put myself in the picture of success/ I could learn world trade/ Or try to map the ocean/ When you're dead." Though it's a plaintive song, the track sees some heavier lifting at the end, finally culminating in a chorus of "These are times that can't be weathered and/ we have never been back there since then." And that killer bridge.

Get Motion City Soundtrack's Making Moves box set to own "Pictures Of Success," "Severance," plus cool EPs by The Skies Revolt and more.

Now please excuse us as we fall down a highly emotional post-hurricane emotional well of our design and stay there until we get this song out of our head. (Which will be never, so cancel our brunch plans.)

+ Listen to Motion City Soundtrack's cover of Rilo Kiley's "Pictures Of Success" (NFSW).

Photo credit: Anthony Saint James