Artist: MxPx
Album: Panic
Label: Side One Dummy
Tracks: 14
Running Time: 42 minutes




I’ve a confession to make: I once passed out in the mosh pit watching MxPx rock through a set I choose to remember as the greatest punk rock concert I ever witnessed. But then they released a bunch of terrible albums and EPs and my soul was torn asunder, left clinging to the boring Pennywise and even worse Frenzal Rhomb. Then, rumours reached me, Mx had realised the folly of their ways and were in the studio right now – rectifying everything. The rumours are almost right.

Panic is one thing pop punk hasn’t been in a long time, fun. It’s okay to catharsis your emotional angst and rant about Bush’s IQ level – but everyone forgot to have fun in the process.

Lyrically Mike Herrera has always written his best work mining his own life – a punk rock boy with a whole heap of adult responsibilities. He does it again here with Late Again and it’s his finest lyrical moment since 1998’s Slowly Going The Way of the Buffalo.

MxPx are now harder but not heavier, see The Story, it’s got more in common with rock than roll but on Panic the rhythm section of Herrera and drummer Yuri Ruley channel everything from the country punk of Social Distortion to the sweetness of Brandtson. Gone are the saccharine production values and song writing that marred their last efforts. It’s their most balanced record with the ready-to-shout anthem of Heard That Sound, the riot of Cold Streets and the boy-girl pop ballad Wrecking Hotel Rooms.

Panic is a new, invigorated MxPx – they have not returned to form, they’ve found something better.