A Review of MxPx's Before Everything & After

Before everything and after, there will be MxPx. I have been following the band for close to nine years now. It's easy for me to say that they are one of my favorites. Now, with that being said, this is by far their worst album to date. And with that being said, I like it a whole bunch! On this album, Before Everything and After, MxPx does two things: First, they try to reinvent something that has already been done [a lot]. If you didn't notice, they failed. Second, they progress as a band and write some good tunes. I think they accomplished it. Follow me.

MxPx went from straightforward, dirty punk rock, to punk rock, to pop-punk rock, to pop-punk, to rock with a steady and sometimes slightly fast rhythm. Sure, along the way, they popped up the vocals, but the music has always had a hard-edged, gritty sound, even if they were singing pretty. The point is, the evolution of this band and their music has been a progression toward maturity, which they have accomplished on every album. I can easily say, I like where it's heading, I think. Their third effort for A&M finds MxPx doing some of the same old things as on prior releases. That is why I say it's their worst. If you look at their discography, you can find a handful of songs on each release that will make you sing and make you have them as the soundtrack of your life, as with this album (it's just less this time around).

The album opens and closes with a track that mixes random sounds, snippets of the songs from this album, and a steal guitar into a sound collage in the vain of an experimental intro and outro. Play It Loud is an anthem of the band's history (where they've been, what they've done). It's a decent track, but there is a peculiar line in the song. The singer proclaims, "Stop trying to be like everyone else." How ironic. It sounds like Mike, Tom, and Yuri are at odds with themselves because much of the music on this record happens to sound a lot like the others bands out today, which is what made MxPx stand apart from the crowd in the first place. It's fitting that some of the guest singers on this album, are from bands of that same 'sound' (singers from The Ataris, Good Charlotte, and New Found Glory appear on the record). Well Adjusted comes next and starts out as one of the hardest songs on the album, but quickly follows back in line with the pop-punk formula. Even if the song didn't mention a lobotomy, I would say that if MxPx and Ramones had wrote a song together, it would sound a lot like this. I've always admired Mike Herrera's song writing ability. The next sequence of songs, It's Alright, Brokenhearted, First Day of The Rest of Your Life, and Everything Sucks (When You're Gone) is probably the best part of the album. I mention song writing because this helps my case for worst album. The songs, while very catchy, follow suit to their last radio friendly full length, The Ever Passing Moment, except that the writing isn't as good. Here, all of the songs have good intentions, yet something doesn't make them astonishing. MxPx are known for writing personal songs that have universal meanings. But, more with this album than the last, it seems like every song is a universal message, versus striving for a more personal atmospheric disc. Of course, layered vocals/harmonies, adding keyboard parts, and mild experimentation is something MxPx have done before, but this time, I don't know, it just feels like they are reinventing of the pop-punk rawk wheel, so to speak. A lot of the lyrics just add up to, staying up late, having good communication, and ordering out for food. Pity Mike, I know you can be deeper than that. Despite all of my criticism, these four songs are better than most, catchy as heck, and is current MxPx (even if it's on a less sophisticated level) at it's best.

Quit Your Life is a personal favorite. Even though asking someone to leave his or her life to join yours seems a bit outlandish and absurd, I like the sentiment this song describes. The acoustic guitar is a nice touch and it's really hard to not want to sing along. More Everything seems like it was left off of The Ever Passing Moment. An up-tempo number about a love, I guess. Again, nothing new, but I must admit, lyrically, the song is good. From some of the best songs, to probably the worst song MxPx has ever recorded, Kings of Hollywood is a bolstering and boasting tune of what being young and punk means--in some wacky, new wave, pop disaster. Producer Dave Jerden, should have told them to scrap this one. I don't even want to address it. Moving on. The Capitol is a song about rhyming. Really. Every ending word, of every line, rhymes to the next. The keyboard intro makes me feel like an 80s retro song is coming, but the fast succession of a punk beat coming from the drums and a distorted riff from the guitar makes me think back to the Broken Bones 7 inch. A well-written song about finding the truth out for yourself is the message. On The Outs is a typical "girls hate you and me" song that sounds like Aruthur should have recorded it. Don't Walk Away is a montage of pop sounds that, ironically, seems fitting, applicable, and done well by the boys from Bremerton. Great writing on this track: "I need the glow/Of your darling face/ Accept this crown of love/And live in grace/ I need the colors/Painted in your mind/ Your beauty and your brilliance/So hard to find." The last two songs, You Make Me, Me and You're Not Alone, are the most personal songs on the album. Odes to a love, these songs really are really what MxPx are about. Recapping all the possibilities life has to offer, this person(s) they write about is everything and all they want to do is to be with that special person(s).

Okay, if you're still reading, know this: Before Everything and After is nothing new, nothing revolutionary, and nothing innovative. But, there's nothing wrong with that. It is MxPx moving forward. Hopefully, this is just a stepping-stone until they find the sound and words that will again make them, them.