mxpx: secret weapon

mxpx has just released another album last week. its a nice noisy return to their roots. ive been a fan for many years now and have had the good fortune of seeing them half a dozen times or so. i got into them starting with 'slowly going the way of the buffalo'. the stuff before that i never got in to because it just seemed like chaotic noise, not much by way of melody. 'buffalo' still had some of those qualities, but was much crisper and the vocals could actually be understood. their following albums, 'the ever passing moment' and 'before everything and after' continued to move away from the punk feel that they had started in. these albums were more pop than punk, and it lent itself to catchier tunes, and a chance to better display their lyrics.

their last release, 'panic', kept the pop hooks, but leaned back into the punk sound a bit. their latest, 'secret weapon', continues that slide back into punk. the hooks arent as apparent on initial listenings, but im sure they will grow on me quickly. there is even a little bit of playing around with acoustic guitars and other non-punk instruments like a synthesizer and horns.
they do seem to know that the slow songs are not the vocalists strong point, so most songs speed up quickly. another thing that i appreciate about these guys is that, unlike many musicians, they dont skimp on album length. with the special edition of the album i got there are a total of twenty songs! i like it when a band makes it worth the investment. $15 for ten songs? boo!!! $15 for twenty songs? sounds good to me!