MxPx

MxPx emerged from Bremerton, Washington, by refreshing the raw three-chord punch of vintage punk for a '90s audience and sustained that audience deep into the following century through unwavering commitment to their sonic identity and principles. Their 1996 release Life in General helped establish them as key figures in the pop-punk wave, clearing a path for acts such as New Found Glory and Good Charlotte via rapid, energetic, melody-driven tracks. Shortly thereafter the band achieved broader commercial traction when The Ever Passing Moment in 2000 and Before Everything & After in 2003 both climbed the Billboard rankings. Into the 2010s and afterward, Plans Within Plans in 2012, timed with their twentieth anniversary, and the self-titled MxPx in 2018 reaffirmed their lasting allegiance to their craft and supporters.

The trio first assembled in 1992 while still enrolled at high school in Bremerton, Washington. Initially called Magnified Plaid, the lineup featured vocalist and bassist Mike Herrera, drummer Yuri Ruley, and guitarist Andy Husted. Ruley later shortened the name on concert flyers; the resulting scrawl was misread as MxPx, and the abbreviation endured. Drawing from the Descendents, NOFX, and the California skateboard scene, the group quickly built regional interest and issued multiple 7-inch singles plus the 1994 Tooth & Nail debut Pokinatcha before any member obtained a driver's license. That album became the label's top seller, leading to the follow-up Teenage Politics at the close of 1995. By then guitarist Tom Wisniewski had taken Husted's place. The band soon issued the covers set On the Cover. Already embraced by skate and surf circles and backed by a snowboard sponsor, MxPx reached wider notice with the 1996 landmark Life in General, home to staples such as "Chick Magnet" and "Move to Bremerton."

A distribution arrangement with A&M Records allowed Life in General to be reissued, after which the 1998 major-label debut Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo attained gold status. That same autumn Tooth & Nail put out the odds-and-ends compilation Let It Happen. The 1999 concert document At the Show captured the group's live energy, and The Ever Passing Moment extended their upward chart trajectory in 2000. Subsequent activity included an EP and 7-inch single for Fat Wreck Chords, the "Scooby Doo" theme for the 2002 film, and the 2002 retrospective Ten Years and Running. Before Everything & After, released in 2003, delivered the band's peak Billboard 200 placement at number 51. After the 2004 B-Movie DVD retrospective, MxPx placed a track on the film-inspired compilation The Passion of the Christ: Songs. Their seventh studio album, Panic, appeared on Side One Dummy in 2005. Summer 2006 found them touring alongside ska-punks Reel Big Fish, followed by the October release of Let's Rock, assembled from unreleased recordings dating to 2000. The next month Tooth & Nail issued a deluxe Let It Happen edition containing a bonus DVD and additional unreleased material. After returning to Tooth & Nail, the band delivered Secret Weapon in 2007. The label also hosted the 2009 covers collection On the Cover II, which honored the Clash, Ramones, and the Go-Go's. Later that year the self-released Left Coast Punk EP appeared via Rock City Recording Company, and the digital and limited-edition Punk Rawk Christmas followed for the holidays.

The 2011 documentary Both Ends Burning preceded the twentieth-anniversary celebrations that included the 2012 studio album Plans Within Plans. A twentieth-anniversary re-recording of Life in General surfaced in 2016. Two years later a crowdfunding drive supported the next studio effort; the resulting September 2018 release MxPx addressed themes of fatherhood and marriage. Another Punk Rawk Christmas EP closed the year, and the standalone singles "San Dimas High School Football Rules" and "Franco Un-American" arrived in 2019.