We\u2019re doing another round of these, and we\u2019re really<\/em> getting into poppunk for the next four weeks. I\u2019m making myself vulnerable, here, and I don\u2019t even charge for this blog yet. <\/p> There is<\/em> a point to all this looking back: Lazy & Entitled has another record coming out soon, a Shipwrecked Sailor<\/a> record (more accurately b & the shipwrecked sailor, but there\u2019s some name tweaks maybe coming, more on that later). It\u2019s going to be more in line with Brendan and my punk roots than Weight of An Anchor<\/a><\/em>. I quit drinking and can play guitar fast again, who knew? <\/p> MxPx was one of if not my favorite band for a long while there. Does MxPx count as skatepunk? Poppunk? At 16, I was most comfortable right between those two genres, as I saw them. MxPx had one of the cooler names out there, they stayed true to three-piece minimalism, and (importantly) they were vocal Christians. I\u2019ve always liked my punk with a message\u2014if you can barely play your instrument, you better get me amped up to love my fellow humans and pursue righteousness. <\/p> Then 2003\u2019s Before Everything & After<\/em> came out, which kinda revealed MxPx was slowing down, creatively and physically. My tastes changed, and when I was fresh out of college and mad at organized religion the way only 22-year-olds can be, I heard salacious, scandalous things about one of the members that I can now neither confirm nor find evidence of. Still, for a longer time than I was a fan, MxPx lived in my head as \u201cuncreative hypocrites.\u201d <\/p> Today I\u2019m going to see if their first- or second-best album holds up. Next week, I\u2019ll see if their other<\/em> first- or second-best album holds up. We\u2019re really reckoning with Maximum Plaid here. <\/p> Middlename<\/strong><\/p> *palm muted A string* \u201cEEEEEMOOOO-TIONNNNN \/ IS MY MIDDLE NAME\u201d<\/p> It\u2019s sometimes easy to see why the adults made fun of us. Or why my wife would make fun of this record if I ever put it on in her presence. Great chord prog in the verse tho.<\/p> I just want to say the hook is about how great it is to go to shows, and that feels important. So is squeezing three verses and an instrumental bridge into three minutes.<\/p> My Mom Still Cleans My Room<\/strong><\/p> A great example of why I like three-pieces. Tom plays non-power chords sometimes, and Mike is an interesting bass player. <\/p> Do Your Feet Hurt<\/strong><\/p>