MxPx Trade Sugar For Spice On Panic

MxPx are a band that have been around the block more than a few times and with six albums under their belt, it gets a bit hard not to keep rehashing the same material over and over again.

Thankfully, with their seventh LP, Panic, the Washington natives have pulled all the punches, coming back with an album that sounds stronger and more aggressive than anything they've done in years.

"We're back," singer/bassist Mike Herrera laughs. "That's how I would describe [Panic]. We haven't put out a record in a while and this is definitely a more aggressive, more in-your-face record than what we've done before."

And it is. Panic gets rid of all the sugary-sweet punk-lite of their last effort, 2003's lackluster Before Everything And After and places bona fide punk anthems in their stead, the likes of which the band haven't put out since their formative years.

They're heavy, but Herrera claims he's always written hard songs, they've just never fit on any of their other albums.

"[The heavier songs] never get put on the records because we always went for the poppier, catchier songs," he admits. "This time we made sure the songs that went on the record were aggressive. Catchy, but at the same time sort of fast and heavy, a little bit dark."

This change in the band's attitude will serve them well when they're co-headlining this summer's Warped Tour with younger, angrier bands such as My Chemical Romance and Thrice. Though MxPx are by no means new to the Warped stage, the scene has definitely changed over the last few years, but Herrera takes it all in stride.

"Obviously the bill is always going to be changing," he says. "Some of the bands that are on the bill weren't even around the last time we were on Warped. It's cool because there are so many different bands and you can see so many different styles in one sitting and I think that's really cool. Yeah, some of the kids might be there to see My Chemical Romance, or whoever, but all the bands are different and you pretty much have to take all of it in."

Though Warped has always championed the punk lifestyle, scene stalwarts claim it's lost the edge it once had and it's because of bands like Good Charlotte, who headlined the tour last year, that punk rock has become a shadow of its former self. It's no secret that punk is in an entirely different place than it was just a few years ago, but Herrera remains hopeful.

"I think there are many aspects and facets to punk rock these days," he muses. "Some of it has definitely been defanged, but the bottom line is that punk will always be around, even when it's not popular, and that's what gives me hope. That's why I love punk rock, because it isn't about marketing, it's a lifestyle. It's having a place to fit in."

The singer is especially optimistic on the subject of his contemporaries.

"It's true that a lot of younger bands right now are just there to get signed, but I think the majority of the bands out there and the bands on the Warped bill truly believe in their music," he says. "I think the kids choose to buy what they buy, but at the same time the record labels are the ones giving them the choices, and record labels don't care about music. I know bands care about music.

"I know Good Charlotte cares about music, but the kids take what's there, and if the record labels sell them fake sugar, then that's what they'll buy. To them, it might as well be freakin' Campbell's soup."

You can catch MxPx on these Warped Tour dates:
July 12 Vancouver, BC @ Thunderbird Stadium
July 14 Calgary, AB @ Race City Speedway
July 28 Quebec City, QC @ Colisee Pepsi Parking Lot
July 30 Barrie, ON @ Molson Park