MXPX

On The Cover II

[4/5]



Pop-punk icons MxPx don’t need to reach outside their own creative world to make you feel nostalgic-they can simply reference themselves, as with On The Cover II, a guest-filled covers collection that follows 1995’s eponymous first volume, similar to New Found Glory’s recent From The Screen To Your Stereo Part II. For the record’s most daring move, MxPx have even gone so far as to re-create the original On The Cover cover photo, with pics taken 14 years later. Its subjects visibly aged, the thrust of the record is the same: Find some ’80s classics and proceed to rock the crap out of them. Inspired takes of “500 Miles/Surrender,” “Vacation,” “Kids In America” and “I Will Follow” will once again have you believing the Reagan years were much cooler than they actually were. (TOOTH & NAIL; toothandnail.com) Brendan Manley