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's themes largely center on growing older; its lyricism, written by Pierre, concerns such subjects as relationships, drug abuse, and procrastination.

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.

[7] 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.

[8] The album title was derived from frontman Justin Pierre misquoting a line ("My dragon life") from the 2008 film American Teen.

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.

[13] "History Lesson" was likened to a rowdy, "Irish drinking song" by the band; they felt it evocative of a protagonist looking back fondly on his more youthful, "wilder days."

They considered it unconventional in its lack of a traditional chorus; likewise, drummer Tony Thaxton employed different instruments in its percussion, such as triangles and concert bass drums.

"[19] Whilst on tour with Blink-182, Motion City Soundtrack did an interview for MTV with Hoppus, in which it was revealed that the band's fourth album would be titled My Dinosaur Life.

Along with the band's tour manager and a friend, Pierre made appearances and played acoustic shows throughout the US Midwest and East Coast.

Following the album's release, they recommenced touring; in the first three months the band travelled to Australia for the national Soundwave festival, as well as to Japan and the United Kingdom.

The physical form of the deluxe edition has five bonus tracks, a hard-bound book with six 7-inch picture discs, a signed Pulp Fiction—style lyric booklet and album artwork for each song by Joe Ledbetter.

The clips were released on numerous music websites including AbsolutePunk, Spin, Buzznet, Purevolume, Alternative Press, Punknews.org, Alloy.com, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, The A.V.

"[31] Mikael Wood, in a pre-release review for Spin, felt the record "strikes a radio-ready balance between mayhem and melody.

"[36] The Washington Post's Allison Stewart called the album "scruffy, peppy, [and] hopelessly likable" that evokes "punk-pop's halcyon.

"[39] Lincoln Journal Star journalist L. Kent Wolgamott stated that "My Dinosaur Life is full of complaints and clever cultural observations, insecurities and determination to move forward, a heap of modern confusion that is bound together by the catchy if repetitive music".

[33] A reviewer-Billboard opined that "Motion City Soundtrack's smart-aleck tendencies combine nicely with a harder sound on "My Dinosaur Life," pushing the band back to its roots with enough twist to propel it in a new direction.

"[35] PopMatters' Jennifer Cooke considered the album's darkness is what "keeps Motion City Soundtrack interesting and worthy of more serious consideration than other bands of its ilk.