Underrated Band: MxPx

Band Information:

• Name: MxPx (Formerly Magnified Plaid)
• Members:
  • Mike Herrera – lead vocals, bass guitar, guitars
  • Tom Wisniewski – lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Yuri Ruley – drums, percussion
• From: Bremerton, Washington
• Founded: 1992

This band has been around for so long, I’m not sure why the entire world doesn’t know their name. I have personally been in love with this band for years. I honestly can’t even remember how/where I found them or heard of them, but I haven’t stopped listening since I did.

One thing that is really cool about this band – they have only ONE former member, who left in 1995. So for 20 years now, it’s been the same three guys, which is SUPER rare.

The band has all but retired as of a few years ago. They’ve stopped touring as a group and have not released any new music for a while, but in a way this doesn’t disappoint me. They’ve been a band for so long, nobody can do it forever. Unless you’re KISS. But seriously, you can’t blame anyone for wanting to stay home with their wives and children.

Nevertheless, the music is still unreal, and it’s the kind of stuff that will stay relevant for a LONG time, as long as people know about it. It seems these guys may have been bigger in past years, but with them not touring anymore and really slowing down with the music, they seem to be fizzling out a little. At least, I don’t hear people talk about them and I haven’t seen much of them in the media, which is understandable but still unfortunate.

Their sound is really the perfect definition of punk. It’s fun and rebellious with insanely catchy hooks. It gives you an amazing “forever young” kind of feeling, and it is also pretty good at giving me goosebumps – from not only the music itself but the feelings and memories it conjures.

If you’re into the likes of Blink 182 and Sum 41, these guys are seriously for you, I guarantee you won’t regret checking them out.

My personal favourite album is Before Everything and After, you can check out my review of it here.

Discography

Albums:

• Pokinatcha (1994)
• Teenage Politics (1995)
• Life in General (1996)
• Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo (1998)
• The Ever Passing Moment (2000)
• Before Everything & After (2003)
• Panic (2005)
• Secret Weapon (2007)
• On the Cover II (2009)
• Punk Rawk Christmas (2009)
• Plans Within Plans (2012)

Ep’s

• On The Cover (1995)
• Move To Bremerton (1996)
• Small Town Minds (1997) 
• The Broken Bones (2000) 
• The Renaissance EP (2001)
• Fat Club 7″ (2001) 
• The AC/EP (2004) 
• Left Coast Punk EP (2009)