MxPx - Secret Weapon

When you’ve been playing in a band for 15 years, and you started your career mostly singing about girls, heartbreak, longing, girls, and high school politics, there probably comes a time when you’re not as in touch with those things anymore. So what do you do? Well, one solution is to keep on churning out the attempts at songs that connect with teenagers as if you were still clued into that melodramatic life even as you’re happily married. The other is, of course, to move on, and grow with your audience.

MxPx has taken the latter route, thank goodness. They still have some sense of bucking society’s expectations of them- now as full-on adults- that is summed up in their popular single “Responsibility.” But that was some years ago; here they are, putting out an album in 2007, 15 years since they got together in 1992 to play some bratty punk rock in their Washington hometown.

To be honest, I’ve never really understood labeling MxPx as a Christian band. I’ve not read the lyrics sheet to each and every release, but it all seems like pretty standard pop-punk subjects in there. I know Tooth & Nail (their longtime record label) is a Christian label, and most artists on it are pretty full of faith. But I don’t see it in MxPx’s songs; they’re positive, sure, and the altered “Sick Boy” from “He’ll make love to her all night” to “He’ll hang out with her all night.” But does that make them Christian punk? I don’t know.

The album kicks off with the hard-hitting “Secret Weapon,” unleashing a speedy punk rock attack on the listener, and over the music, Mike Herrera delivers an uplifting call to arms. From there, things keep going strong, with powerful, catchy tunes like “Shut It Down” and “Here’s To the Life,” as well as somewhat mellower numbers like “Punk Rawk Celebrity.” These guys are pretty consistent with the whole “punk rawk” spelling.

Things remain fairly good throughout, though the tracks get less memorable as the sixteen songs move on. And that would be the main criticism of this record; it loses steam as it moves on, or doesn’t always succeed in captivating the listener. There are some gems as the album progresses, but the best songs are on side A without question. So all in all, this album will please long-time MxPx fans, but isn’t necessarily the best starting point for newcomers.

Various Artists - All Aboard: A Tribute to Johnny Cash

Now, I think we can all agree that tribute albums are hit-or-miss affairs, at best; often, the albums are terrible, and offer no compelling evidence to justify their existences. How many times have you listened to a tribute album to an artist you like and not come away thinking “I’d have rather had this as a ‘Greatest Hits’ package?” I bet it’s a handful. We’re not even going to talk about genre/era “tributes,” since more often than not those are just “hip” bands making ironic covers that they think are HI-LARIOUS. (Notable example: the late’90s Metaliska album. That shit was so good)

And it’s with that in mind that one enters into this, Anchorless Records’ (based out of Allston, MA!) tribute to Johnny Cash. They’ve assembled a punk-centric collection of artists like the Bouncing Souls, the Gaslight Anthem, Chuck Ragan (of Hot Water Music), MxPx, the Loved Ones, and others, along with local favorites gone national, the Dresden Dolls. So the talent is strong, not a bunch of rookie bands looking to make a name for themselves with an ironic cover of a classic. Remember how well that worked out for Alien Ant Farm?

The songs here are all quality, of course; Johnny Cash had a great catalog of songs, and this is a fine sampling of the man’s material. And the interpretations do a good job of mixing styles. Some of them play the songs truer to the originals than others; while Chuck Ragan’s largely-acoustic take on “Wreck of the Old ’97″ is a straight version, MxPx do a great pop-punk version of “Hey Porter.” And the Gaslight Anthem’s sound is well-suited to “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.” The Dresden Dolls’ “Ballad of a Teenage Queen” is a definite highlight, their inherent theatricality (almost entirely due to Amanda’s voice) along with some wonderful instrumentation and backing vocals, makes the song their own.

Not all of the songs here work as well or are as memorable as those mentioned above, but all in all, the covers here are solid, and are very enjoyable. It’s clear that the artists involved aren’t playing the songs with a sly wink and a smirk on their faces, but actually respect and enjoy the original works. This album is a worthwhile listen for fans of Johnny Cash, or any of the bands involved.