Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 13!
Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 13!

JFH Music Review


MxPx, Left Coast Punk EP
CLICK COVER TO ENLARGE

MxPx
Left Coast Punk EP



Artist Info: Discography
Album length: 6 tracks (Digital); 10 (CD)
Street Date: November 17, 2009


It's been pretty easy lately to get the impression that the boys of MxPx are getting tired of being punks, which is understandable since they're not exactly teenagers anymore. Frontman Mike Herrera has been putting effort into his new side project, Tumbledown, and we haven't heard much from the band other than a second album of covers released earlier this year. Their last full release, Secret Weapon, was one of their best, but that was some time ago now.

With the Left Coast Punk EP, there's finally something new and original (sort of) from MxPx. Unfortunately, the fact that it's new material is pretty much the only positive I can give it. A quick listen through this brief EP immediately gives the impression that the band doesn't particularly care about their music anymore. Everything rocks and pounds like any good punk album should, but at the same time it feels bland and tired. In some ways, the title of this EP is appropriate. This is punk, and just like the state of punk music in general nowadays, it's pretty lifeless. You can't fault the band for its musical ability, there's just not much passion here. The heart that was obvious in Secret Weapon seems completely absent. The only track that's at all memorable is the last one, "End." It's a typical goodbye track that might mean more than just the end of the album. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it's one of the last original MxPx tracks you hear.

The Left Coast Punk EP is decent but completely forgettable. Longtime fans of the band should check it out, and they'll probably enjoy it to an extent. But more than anything, this EP is a sign that MxPx has without question moved past their prime.

- Review date: 12/7/09, written by Timothy Estabrooks of Jesusfreakhideout.com



(JFH Sponsor Spot)

Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 13!

 

JFH Staff's Second Opinion



Despite a relatively dormant 2008, the long-time trio, MxPx, has been busy in 2009 with their second release of a cover project along with the Left Coast Punk EP. Launched from the band's own label, Rock City, MxPx once again gives fans a heavy dose of guitar-fueled punk rock consistent with the band's career. Unfortunately, this time around, the group's EP sounds terribly inexperienced and ten years too late as MxPx offers a bundle of fast-paced, upbeat songs, which lack originality and a solid, catchy tune. Portions of the songs "One Step Further," "Shanghaied in Shanghai," and "End" include some good moments, but are easily overshadowed by previous songs like "Role Modeling" and "Secret Weapon." Although the band's humor is lame (the cleverest MxPx gets is on the politically accurate title), solid themes do shine through in the form of "One Step Further" and "Hopeless Cause" which includes a nod to God ("You're my only hope/My only shelter from the storm"). In the end, true MxPx fans will want the ten track, physical copy, but casual punk fans should pass on the Left Coast Punk EP and look up other additions to the vast MxPx library. - Nathaniel Schexnayder

 

. Record Label: Rock City Recording Company
. Album length: 6 tracks (Digital); 10 (CD)
. Street Date: November 17, 2009
. Buy It: MxPx.com
. Buy It: iTunes

  1. One Step Further
  2. Desperate to Understand
  3. Broken
  4. Shanghaied in Shanghai
  5. Hopeless Case
  6. End

    MXPX-Left Coast Punk CD (Physical)
    **Includes all the tracks listed above, plus the below

  7. One step further (instrumental version)
  8. End (instrumental version)
  9. Broken (instrumental version)
  10. On a String (previously unreleased demo from LCP sessions)

 

 

go to main Album review page
go to Album review archive

 


(JFH Sponsor Spot)

 

 

                 
Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 13!

Search JFH




This Friday, November 8, 2024
ALBUMS
Gabby Barrett Carols and Candlelight [Warner Music Nashville]
CXMMXNS CXMMXNS Chapter 1 - EP [Essential Worship]
New Hope Oahu There Is One - EP [DREAM]
Neal Morse & The Resonance No Hill For A Climber [InsideOut]
TAKE Time Bomb [Resuscitation Records]
Lauren Talley A Lauren Talley Christmas [Horizon]

SINGLES
Cory Asbury I Hope You Dance - Single [BEC]
Jordan Kauflin, Laura Story Approach, My Soul - Single [Getty]
Sam Bowman & GLADDEN Misfit Toys - Single [DREAM]
Wavorly Enemies - Single (independent)

VINYL
Michael W. Smith Every Christmas Vinyl [Rocketown]
Stryper To Hell with the Amps Vinyl [Frontiers]
TAKE Time Bomb Vinyl [Resuscitation Records]

DVD
Stryper To Hell with the Amps Blu-Ray [Frontiers]

Next Friday, November 15, 2024
ALBUMS
Dolly Parton & Family Smoky Mountain DNA – Family, Faith & Fables [Owepar Entertainment]
The Lore Family Faith Over Fear [Horizon]
Fernando Ortega For All the Saints - EP (independent)
Earnest Pugh Worth is the Lamb
We Are Messengers Rejoice! (A Celtic Christmas) - EP [Curb]
Paul Wright III Reverie [United Alliance]

SINGLES
Big Dismal Here In My Heart - Single (independent)
Hannah Kerr It Came Upon A Midnight Clear - Single [Curb]
Olivia Lane Silent Night - Single [BEC]
Tasha Layton Wake Up It's Christmas - Single [BEC]
Jamie MacDonald A Million Chances - Single [Capitol CMG]
Ronnie Martin On Christmas Morning - Single [Velvet Blue]
Hunter Plake Daylight - Single [BEC]
Jordan St. Cyr Christ is Here - Single [BEC]

VINYL
Sixpence None the Richer Divine Discontent Vinyl [Word]



For all release dates, click here!
 



Check out the new album from Taylor Holland Armstrong!



Listen to the new Single from Second Adam and the New Creations!

Check out depositphotos for royalty free images