Review: MXPX – Secret Weapon

I‘ve been listening to the music of MXPX since I was about 15 years old and, while my interest in the band has waxed and waned, they have always been there. Most fans (me included) probably consider the band’s third full-length album Life In General to be the band’s best album and a majority of their more recent (post 2000) output to be less than spectacular. After seeing the MXPX’s impassioned performance at Warped Tour recently, I felt inclined to pick up a copy of their most recent record Secret Weapon.

I’m not sure what Mike, Tom, & Yuri have been eating lately, but its working. Secret Weapon (to me at least) seems like a natural progression from where the band was on their Slowly Going The Way Of The Buffalo album rather than all the albums that followed that one. It is more focused and more biting (a la Pennywise and Bad Religion) without sacrificing any of the band’s catchy melodic edge. The songs on Secret Weapon just sound much more edgy than those on the band’s last few albums. Maybe it is the switch from a major label back to Tooth and Nail or perhaps MXPX has rediscovered their roots and realized that they are a great pop-punk band and that their music only suffers when it meanders away from that.

While I can’t say that Secret Weapon will make my top albums of 2007 list, it is refreshing to these aged ears even if it doesn’t move me like it would have when I was still a teenager. And I know that makes me sound old and jaded, but in all honesty, it takes a lot to impress me these days. That being said, I’ve always been a big fan of catchy and well-played pop punk and that is exactly what Secret Weapon is full of.

MP3 | MXPX – Secret Weapon Secret Weapon
MP3 | MXPX – You’re On Fire Secret Weapon