MxPx
Secret Weapon

This eighth album of original songs from the Washington group presents a constant and a novelty. The constant is the line-up, which has remained practically unchanged year after year since the beginning. The variable is represented by the departure from SideOne Dummy records and yet another label change, which is not a debut, as the band had already collaborated with Tooth & Nail during the first three albums.

Turning to more practical and less theoretical matters, namely the seven notes, there are also some new developments cooking. Mike Herrera and company seem to have reclaimed that dynamism and energy, and that charge that hadn't been seen in quite some time. If the previous "Panic" personally surprised me positively, this one will not disappoint the fans either.

Their light-hearted and catchy pop punk seems to have given way to a more direct, melodic impact, but this time rawer. Part of this change is due to the label with which they have produced what many consider their best albums.

The element that immediately stands out after just a few seconds of the album is undoubtedly the really powerful rhythm section with drumming that in many parts typically leans towards hardcore environments. This gives the songs that extra grit that never hurts. The guitars themselves often turn out very gritty and dirty for a group dedicated to pop punk.

Emblematic of these innovations is immediately the opening track, namely "Secret Weapon", the fast-paced and powerful title track that also features a nice solo, closely resembling the latest new school hc groups, rather than Blink-182 and company. Undoubtedly one of the best in recent years. A similar discussion can be made for the following "Shut It Down", enriched by fine choirs.

Moving on, there are also more easy listening episodes ("Top Of The Charts", "Sad Sad Song")—practically the only two slow songs on the platter and stylistically closer to previous works, without however reaching the levels of the ballad "Wrecking Hotel Rooms". Particularly successful is the riff that supports "Angels", but the best episode, on par with the title track, seems to be "You're On Fire", with a tune that sticks in your head, and once learned, you can't help but hum it.

For those instead looking for sound for their 147's anti-theft system, take a look at the bridge of "Chop chop". Also worth listening to are the fresh "Never Better Than Now" and "Not Nothing". While "goodbye until next time, it's been a pleasure" is given to us by "Tightly Wound".

Although "Secret Weapon" is a pleasure to listen to, it nevertheless presents an overly dispersive tracklist. 16 songs are a bit too many; to make everything more compact, something needed to be cut. Naturally, I point this out, even though, let it be clear, in the era of downloads and DIY playlists where everyone takes their 4/5 songs from the album and puts the rest aside to listen only to what they like best, it doesn't matter much. But having to judge an album also from its general architecture, it is a fact to be noted.

It should be noted that the album is paired with several bonus tracks depending on the version at hand. In the version in my possession, under the emblematic name of "Hidden track", there is a quick song with semi-acoustic traits.

Although in terms of spontaneity this work is even superior to its predecessor, it proves to be a tad long, remaining, however, a very respectable album, and credit must be given to the band for going against the grain compared to most of today's bands that are doing the same genre.