MxPx

Item: The Renaissance
Author: Travis Persaud

The Renaissance

(2001)

Reviewed by Travis Persaud

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Label Fat Wreck ChordsDecapolis2001

pop punk skate punk

Yet another album from MxPx takes the form of a nine song EP, which has had fans young and old waiting in anticipation for its official release. Throughout the years, MxPx's style has slowly changed and evolved from album to album, as their musical preferences have changed, as well as them changing as musicians and people. This slow evolution of their style has gained them a vast array of faithful fans, as well as losing some in the mix. Talks about this EP had old fans excited though, as it was going to be MxPx reaching back to their roots producing "old school MxPx" songs. This is exactly what Mike had to say about it, "...This is our interpretation of what our first three records may have sounded like if we had recorded the songs at the present time...."

With the exception of the first track "Lonesome Town" which draws a similar parallel to songs on their last full-length album "The Ever Passing Moment," Mike hit the nail right on the head. They were able to incorporate all the fundamental elements of their earlier releases, and fit that into their new sound, in a matter of speaking.

Yuri has a chance to show his chops some more on the drums, as the speed of the songs are much quicker. There's the hyper-beat punk drumming, along with quick fills and breaks. The guitars are much louder and "in your face," without many slow bridges and picking patterns, and the bass tone is so rich and thick, present in every song not getting lost in the mix. One thing that I was pleasantly surprised with was the quick guitar riffs in a few songs, sounding like nothing MxPx has done before. "Letting Go" and "Yuri Wakes Up Screaming" are perfect examples of this. Also, the "gang" vocals they used on "Party II" and "Talk Of the Town" were just perfect. Those vocal parts turned "Party II" into a great tune that would bring fans back to their Life In General days, and with "Talk Of The Town" it takes you way back to their first album Pokinatcha.

Mike's voice is stronger than ever, and is very "raw and upfront" on these songs. He was still able to have an energetic, slightly more aggressive voice on these songs, while still maintaining tight vocal melodies.

Something else that I found very cool about this album, was that they recorded it all on their own in their own studio they built. They also had a friend of theirs do the artwork.

Of course when it comes to MxPx, they'll be people who love them or hate them. Use your own intelligence and let your ears tell you if it's good or not; don't listen to the biased opinions of others who love to hate them, give this album a chance.

A-