Review Summary: One of the few pop-punk albums that can claim to give Dookie a run for its money.
Music elitists like to think the only good music is the one they listen to. The small indie groups playing out of the drummer’s mom’s garage; the über-metallic distortionists who are every bit as drunk and high as everyone else at the bar; the high-school rap group making ends meet with one turntable and a couple of cheap mics. That’s where the real goods lie, according to these people. The mainstream, on the other hand, is something to be dismissed, a mere feeding trough to the faceless, acephalic masses who will lap up anything with a good marketing campaign behind it.
These kind of music fans are right, but only partly. Every so often, the mainstream coughs out something which is not only worth listening to, but effectively quite good. In recent years, cases in point include Green Day, System of a Down, Slipknot, and today’s subject, MxPx.
Starting life as a Christian melodic hardcore band, the trio known as MxPx gradually transitioned to a mainstream pop-punk sound, classifiable along the likes of Blink 182 or New Found Glory, complete with quirky sense of humour and a penchant for punkifying oddball covers. That was the prevailing sound by the time the group’s biggest hit,
Before Everything and After, rolled around in 2003.
By this point in time, the group was fully committed to the mainstream. Their songs were appearing on Hillary Duff movies destined to send “inspirational” messages to 12-year-old girls, they were releasing through A&M, and they were making #51 on Billboard. For all intents and purposes, the album should have sucked. But it didn’t. In fact, with
BE&A, MxPx have released one of the few records capable of effactively giving
Dookie a run for its money. This one doesn’t quite dethrone that master, but it at least has a damn good try, falling just short due to a couple of minor flaws.
The ironic thing is, once the intro – groundbreakingly named
Before, with the outro being equally cleverly named
After – is done, the first signs are none too promising.
Play It Loud, the infamous Hillary Duff connection, sends across a trite, insincere message of self-empowerment that rings false to more savvy ears. Lines like
”confess to your friends/be true to yourself/and stop trying to be just like smebody else” are exactly what confused 12-year-olds want to hear, but they’ll make even a teenager cringe. The group also fruitlessly tried to convince us that they’re
”just like you, straight from the crowd”, but the level of polishing present in the album belies that statement. Overall, a fairly unauspicious beginning, saved only by the thumping, Pennywise-lite instrumental.
Fortunately, things are about to get much better. Third track
Well-Adjusted is a standout, driven by mammoth percussion work by Yuri Ruley, amusing mental-illness lyrics and a chorus that is slightly different every time around, but always remains catchy and singable. From then on, the record hardly ever lets the ball drop, and the listener is taken for one hell of a ride. There’s plenty to like here, from the verse vocal melody on
It’s Alright to the guitar leads on
More Everything, through the catchy choruses of most songs. Altogether, this is simply a very strong set of punk-pop songs, with the bouncy tracks being undercut by a very melancholy streak, present mainly on
Kings of Hollywood and the plaintive guitar leads on
On The Outs. As for ballad
Quit Your Life, it may be too sappy for some, but it’s undeniably a powerful, heart-tugging moment that asserts itself as another standout. In a nice piece of contrast, it is then followed by the rip-snorting
More Everything, the second best song on the album, which features an irresistible, snaking guitar lead and another tour-de-force performance from Ruley. He may not be Tre Cool, but with this album he certainly establishes himself as an above-average drummer, at least by punk-pop standards.
The mainstream connection also helped the group land some impressive guest spots. People like Benji Madden, of Good Charlotte (who also, puzzlingly, produced the album) and Jordan Pundik of New Found Glory may not exactly give the group much street cred, but they will certainly help interest the mainstream tween and teen audience. The same goes for the lyrics, mostly devoted to issues the band certainly isn’t experiencing anymore, but which anyone aged twelve-to-eighteen will certainly relate to.
Of course, there are a few flaws. The overall sound, and particularly singer Mike Herrera’s performance, at times becomes too saccharine, particularly in the string-infused
Quit Your Life and the insufferably juvenile
Everything Sucks (When You’re Gone), which will have any halfway-mature listener running to the hills. Lyricism isn’t always at its best, either:
”I’m not crying, I’ve got something in my eye” is a strong runner for worst line of the millenium, and
”quit your life and stay with me” may come across as a little too demanding. Ultimately, though, the strenght of songwriting and execution gloss over these few infuriating little flaws, making for a pleasant ride throughout these 15 songs. Sure, there are some rough spots (
Everything Sucks (When You’re Gone), Don’t Walk Away[/i], the unremarkable
You’re Not Alone), but in the end MxPx and the listener get to their destination safe and sound. In the end,
Dookie has nothing to worry about just yet, but
Before Everything and After can at least claim to have put up more of a challenge than most.
Recommended Tracks
Well-Adjusted
Quit Your Life
More Everything
