MXPX – Panic

Panic was an album that I was excited for, but one I didn’t have high hopes for. After hearing the lackluster The Darkest Places on the 2005 Warped Tour Compilation, my hopes of MXPX releasing a mind blowing album dropped down a few notches. Nevertheless, I was still slightly excited to see it show up in my mailbox and after playing it through a few times, its easy to see my thoughts of disappointment were badly misplaced.

The label switch seem to have helped out the trio as their fourteen track comeback to the punk scene hits the mark in almost all the right places. It is pop-punk at its finest by a band that knows what they are doing and not trying to be anything they aren’t. Luckily, the album hits a little harder then most pop-punk albums too, really leaving a mark on the listener rather then getting them to just press skip.

Surprisingly, the band re-did Grey Skies Turn Blue for this album which was originally released as an acoustic song on the AC EP and although the song doesn’t sound too bad electrified, it would’ve been better with a brand new song in its spot instead. But that does little to hinder the enjoyment from the album. Everything from the energetic and upbeat first single, Heard That Song, (which was co-written by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones‘s very own Joe Gittleman) to the sing along gang vocals of Late Again and Cold Streets works together to make a energetic pop-punk album. Even the slower songs like Wrecking Hotel Rooms (which was co-written by Blink182‘s Mark Hoppus) add a nice quality to the album to make it that much deeper and diverse, especially with its insanely catchy chorus that has you singing along immediately.

Although these songs probably aren’t nearly strong enough to last outside all by themselves, they work great together in one compact disc. It may start off a little slow, but each song gives the album more energy and propels the album to new heights. Pop-punk fans will easily enjoy this one.