MxPx's Mike Herrera and Tom Wisniewski
Photo: MTV News

IRVINE, California — After 13 years, three labels, seven albums and a career-retrospective DVD, MxPx say they have a record that will put their past work to shame.

"This record will kick all of our other records' asses!" singer/bassist Mike Herrera said.

The band's forthcoming LP, Panic, is its first disc for SideOneDummy and the follow-up to 2003's Before Everything & After, which spawned punk-pop singles like "Well Adjusted" and "Everything Sucks (When You're Gone)."

"[This record] is raw, but it's heavy, and it's a different MxPx," said the 29-year-old Herrera. "Someone that's known us in the past may be like, 'Whatever, I'm over it,' but this record will get you back into it."

With darker and more poignant tracks like "Waiting for the World to End," "Cold Streets" and "Kicking and Screaming," don't expect the same upbeat punk melodies that permeated MxPx's last few albums.

"Panic to us is, like, everything. It's directly correlating with the world we live in, but at the same time, also us as a band. You know, we're not going to go out there and be urgently telling people, 'All right, this is what you need to be listening to, this is important, this music says something,' and then quit," he said. "We kind of felt like, 'OK, let's do something,' and I think this record is sort of the end result."

MxPx recruited producer Gavin MacKillop (Goo Goo Dolls, Sugarcult) and holed up in their hometown studio in Bremerton, Washington, recording the 14-track LP in just 22 days.

The first single is the punk anthem "Heard That Sound," a tribute to the healing power of music. "I basically boil it down to the transformative powers of punk-rock and rock and roll in general," guitarist Tom Wisniewski said. "It changes lives, and that's what the song's really about."

"Music is important to us, and it's important to everybody, whether they realize it or not," Herrera added. "You can be sitting alone in a room, but if you hear someone on the outside, you realize you're not alone. It just feels like you are sometimes, and [you need to] just break out of that bubble."

The song's video, directed by Mike Kaminsky, was filmed in a loft in downtown Los Angeles and acts as both a look back at the band's 13-year career and an homage to its loyal fanbase.

"It's all about the fans and getting together and having this party, but it's not a house party kind of vibe. It's more like how our fans have been there for us over the years, so let's give [something] back to them, like a private show kind of deal," Herrera said. "It's almost like a retrospective, like MxPx died. That's what the video will be. But we're still here."

Blink-182 frontman and longtime friend Mark Hoppus also has his stamp on the record, co-writing the somber track "Wrecking Hotel Rooms," which is shaping up to be the second single.

"I went over to [Mark's] house a couple months before we recorded the record and we were sitting there playing guitar together, kind of geeking out, and he's like, 'Check this out, dude,' and started playing this riff," Herrera recalled. "At the time, I couldn't think of any words for it, so I went back to my hotel on Sunset Boulevard and I was sitting alone there for hours and hours watching people do their Hollywood thing, and I'm just sitting there the whole time, sitting in a hotel room going crazy, and that's how the lyrics came about."

You can catch the fellas on the Vans Warped Tour this summer, before the North American trek wraps in Northampton, Massachusetts, on August 15 (see "Warped Tour Lineup, Itinerary Officially Announced").

Next up, the band will hit a slew of European dates and festivals before jetting to Australia and Japan. After that, expect MxPx to tour the States again in the fall.

Panic drops June 7.

• MxPx
• blink-182

My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way (file)
Photo: Jason Campbell

The Vans Warped Tour has officially announced the lineup and itinerary for the 11th annual edition of the punk/skating tour. As previously reported by MTV News, the bill for the oldest touring festival in the U.S. will be topped by the Offspring and My Chemical Romance, along with the Transplants, MxPx, All-American Rejects, Dropkick Murphys, Thrice, Atreyu and Senses Fail.

The 48-date tour, which kicks off on June 17 at the Germain Amphitheatre in Columbus, Ohio, will snake its way across the country through mid-August, wrapping up on August 14 at the Englishtown Raceway in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Discount tickets will be available on the Warped Web site beginning March 15.

For the full itinerary, see "Warped Tour Organizers Cave, Announce Full Itinerary Two Weeks Early."

New attractions for 2005 include the Amateur Skate Jam (a daily contest judged by pro skaters for local amateur skaters, who will compete for prize money) and, for the first time, fans can also vote daily on the tour's Web site on which band they would like to see play for an extra 10 minutes.

Making their return are such popular attractions as Reverse Day Care (an air-conditioned area where kids can drop off their parents), the Codes of the Cutz hip-hop tent and the Girlz Garage stage. Organizers are also encouraging attendees to donate items for local homeless shelters through Punk Junk, an on-site donation center.

Other bands confirmed to perform so far: A Thorn for Every Heart, Academy Is, Amber Pacific, Armor for Sleep, Avenged Sevenfold, Bedouin Sound Clash, Billy Talent, the Bled, Bleeding Through, Boys Night Out, the Briefs, a Change of Pace, Dead 60's, Emery, the Explosion, the Fight, From First to Last, Funeral for a Friend, Gatsby's American Dream, Go Betty Go, Gratitude, Greeley Estates, Gym Class Heroes, Halifax, Hidden in Plain View, Hopesfall, HorrorPops, Hot Rod Circuit, Juliette and the Licks, Kinison, Left Alone, Lost City Angels, Mae, Matchbook Romance, the Matches, Midtown, Millencolin, Motion City Soundtrack, Near Miss, Plain White T's, Reggie & the Full Effect, Relient K, Rufio, Saosin, Silverstein, Skindred, Something Corporate, the Starting Line, Street Dogs, Strike Anywhere, Stutterfly, Throw Rag, Tsunami Bomb, the Twenty Twos, Yesterday's Rising and ZAO.

For a feature on My Chemical Romance, check out "My Chemical Romance: They're Okay (Promise)."

• My Chemical Romance
• The Offspring
• Transplants
• MxPx
• The All-American Rejects

The Offspring (file)
Photo: Columbia

In the end, it was sheer necessity, combined with a whole bunch of demand, that forced Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman to reveal the full list of 2005 dates for the annual trek. Sometimes, marketing plans just go out the window.

"We were hoping to hold off announcing the dates until the first of March, but the demand of the kids on the Internet made us put them out there," Lyman said. "The kids are prodding, they're on the Web sites. Their dads work at the venues, and find out when the venue is hosting Warped, and the kids put it out there and it pops up on a Web site."

Lyman had previously revealed the first three dates of the tour, along with a few of the headliners (see "On This Summer's Warped Tour: Offspring, MCR, MxPx — And On-Stage Weddings"), but now visitors to WarpedTour.com can check out not only the full itinerary, but also the list of all 45 acts confirmed for this summer's jaunt, from the Academy Is ... and the All American Rejects to the Unseen and Underoath.

Internet presales begin on April 1 (a full 77 days before the first Warped show), but Lyman doesn't see the accelerated schedule as a bad thing. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"It's good to see this kind of demand, it means kids want to go to the Warped Tour this summer," he laughed. "It's probably the day they stop doing that that I'm going to worry about things."

Warped Tour dates, according to tour organizers:  

• 6/17 - Columbus, OH @ Germain Amphitheatre
• 6/18 - Columbus, OH @ Germain Amphitheatre
• 6/19 - Milwaukee, WI @ Marcus Amphitheatre
• 6/21 - St. Louis, MO @ UMB Bank Pavilion
• 6/22 - Kansas City, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
• 6/24 - Dallas, TX @ Smirnoff Music Center Lot
• 6/25 - Houston, TX @ Reliant Center
• 6/26 - San Antonio, TX @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
• 6/28 - Las Cruces, NM @ N.M.S.U. Practice Field
• 6/29 - Peoria, AZ @ Peoria Sports Complex
• 6/30 - San Diego, CA @ Coors Amphitheatre/ UCSD Field
• 7/1 - Long Beach, CA @ Cal State Long Beach
• 7/2 - San Francisco @ Pier 30/32
• 7/3 - Ventura, CA @ Seaside Park
• 7/4 - Fresno, CA @ Selland Arena Lot
• 7/6 - Long Beach, CA @ Cal State Long Beach
• 7/7 - Marysville, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre Lot
• 7/8 - Boise, ID @ Idaho Center Amphitheatre Lot
• 7/9 - George, WA @ Gorge Amphitheatre Lot
• 7/10 - Saint Helens, OR @ Columbia Meadows
• 7/12 - Vancouver, BC @ Thunderbird Stadium
• 7/14 - Calgary, AB @ Race City Speedway
• 7/15 - Bozeman, MT @ Gallatin County Fairgrounds
• 7/16 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Utah State Fairgrounds
• 7/17 - Denver, CO @ Invesco Field at Mile High
• 7/20 - Indianapolis, IN @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
• 7/21 - Cleveland, OH @ Tower City Amphitheatre
• 7/22 - Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center Lot
• 7/23 - Chicago, IL @ Tweeter Center
• 7/24 - Minneapolis, MN @ Metrodome
• 7/26 - Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Six Flags P.A.C.
• 7/28 - Quebec, QC @ Colisee Pepsi Parking Lot
• 7/29 - Montreal, QC @ Parc Jean-Drapeu
• 7/30 - Barrie, ON @ Molson Park
• 7/31 - Pontiac, MI @ Pontiac Silverdome
• 8/1 - Burgettstown, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion
• 8/3 - Atlanta, GA @ HiFi Buys Amphitheater Lot
• 8/4 - Jacksonville, FL @ Jacksonville Fairgrounds
• 8/5 - St. Petersburg, FL @ Vinoy Waterfront Park
• 8/6 - Orlando, FL @ Tinker Field
• 8/7 - Pompano Beach, FL @ Pompano Beach
• 8/8 - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
• 8/9 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
• 8/10 - Bristow, VA @ Nissan Pavilion Lot/ Meriweather Post
• 8/11 - Foxboro, MA @ Foxboro Stadium
• 8/12 - Philadelphia, PA @ Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
• 8/13 - New York, NY @ Randall's Island
• 8/14 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Englishtown Raceway  

• The Offspring
• MxPx
• My Chemical Romance
• Transplants
• Fall Out Boy

The Offspring (file)
Photo: Columbia

Even as much of the Northeast finds itself in the middle of a bone-chilling cold snap, it's never too early to start thinking about those balmy summer months — especially if you're a fan of the Warped Tour. Details for the 2005 version are piling up faster than that snow drift outside your window.

Just-announced acts on this summer's tour include the Offspring, Fall Out Boy, MxPx, the Dropkick Murphys, No Use for a Name, Atreyu, Strung-Out, Mest and Hawthorne Heights. They'll join previously confirmed acts the Transplants, My Chemical Romance and Thrice on the tour's 11th annual jaunt (see "Warped Tour Just Ended, But Next Year's Trek Is Already Taking Shape").

"We always try to pick bands for the tour based on what the kids are telling me. Kids e-mail me all the time with suggestions, and if I get enough of them, I'll get in touch with the band," Warped founder Kevin Lyman said. "Like with the Offspring, who have never played the tour, a kid e-mailed me and was like, 'Why can't you guys work this out?' And I went, 'You know what? You're right.' "

Lyman also said that the tour will kick off on June 18 in Columbus, Ohio, at the Germain Amphitheater, then head to Milwaukee's Marcus Amphitheatre on the 19th and UMB Bank Pavilion near St. Louis on the 21st. More dates will be announced soon.

There are also plans for Warped 2005 to include "at least one" honest-to-goodness wedding. In December, Lyman put out the call for couples looking to get hitched onstage, and the response he got was enough to convince him that he needed to get something started.

"Like most things with Warped, the idea of a wedding started off as a joke. But when I posted on WarpedTour.com, we got such a response that I had to give it a real look," Lyman said. "So now I'm contacting bands to see if they know any ordained ministers. I figure there's got to be some punk-rock ministers out there."

Lyman also is finishing up the Warped Tour 10th Anniversary film, which he's compiled with the help of hundreds of amateur videographers across the country. The film features live performances shot by fans at each of the first 10 editions of Warped, and is due in stores "sometime later this year."

• The Offspring
• My Chemical Romance
• MxPx
• Fall Out Boy
• Dropkick Murphys

Scott Stapp (file)
Photo: Wind-Up Records

After seeing the film "The Passion of the Christ," Scott Stapp had an epiphany. While Mel Gibson's controversial movie didn't exactly inspire a religious rediscovery in the former Creed frontman, the lesson he learned was a lot more fundamental.

"The [film] basically inspired me to readdress my feelings about love and what true love is," Stapp explained. "Seeing what Christ did and why he did that, it inspired me to rethink how I love. Basically, I wanted to relearn love."

"Relearn Love," the first single from The Passion of the Christ: Songs, a 12-track album of music inspired by the film (slated for release on August 31), is proof of Stapp's re-education. The tune actually was written before he saw the film, during a period marked by personal problems, including a divorce and the breakup of his band (see "Creed Break Up"). Seeing the tortuous depiction of the final days of Christ furthered the personal transition Stapp was already undergoing.

"It put my life in perspective," he said. "When I think I have it bad, or when I'm feeling down or complaining or trying to place blame on certain things, I think about what Christ did for me and what he endured, [and] it puts things in the right order. What have I got to complain about? What I need to do is buck up and deal with this.

"When I saw that sacrifice and commitment, I wondered if I could learn how to love just a tenth of what that sacrifice symbolized, it would help me grow as a person. The movie basically made me re-evaluate myself, and how I can be a better person. How can I give and show people compassion and caring and love better than I do now?"

Along with "Relearn Love" which finds Stapp backed by Canadian rockers the Tea Party, The Passion of the Christ: Songs, features contributions from other spiritually minded artists such as P.O.D., Third Day, MxPx with Blink-182's Mark Hoppus, and Lauryn Hill, whose "The Passion" is her first musical offering since posting "Social Drugs" on her Web site in January (see "Misvaluation of Lauryn Hill: $15 Music Video Posted Online"); the former Fugee hasn't issued a proper album or single since 2002's live LP MTV Unplugged No. 2.0.

The album will coincide with the DVD release of "The Passion of the Christ." A video for "Relearn Love," is scheduled to be filmed Tuesday with directors the Brothers Strause (Linkin Park, Nickelback).

"We had asked from the beginning if there was going to be a soundtrack, if there would be anything we could do music-wise," said P.O.D.'s Sonny Sandoval. "And now there's a lot of music inspired by the film. Anybody who saw the film and wants to artistically, through music, express their feelings... that's why they're here."

The album's eclectic lineup, which also includes Big Dismal, Charlotte Church, contemporary gospel singers Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams, country artists Brad Paisley and Sara Evans, and a Christian-music collaboration from Third Day, Steven Curtis Chapman and MercyMe, is a testament to the broad swatch of artists the movie has affected.

"The thing that sets this record apart from other soundtracks and compilation albums," MxPx singer/bassist Mike Herrera said, "is that with most records, [the compilers] just grab a song or grab a band [and think], 'Who's the top seller? Who's doing well in the market? Who's going to make us money?' This record isn't like that. This record is about being inspired by this movie and this piece of art. And that's what sets it apart from everything else."

Passion of the Christ: Songs is the first release slated for Lost Keyword Records, a subsidiary of Wind-Up (home to Creed and Evanescence) that is dedicated to releasing pop music. Rock records will continue to be issued by the parent company.

Track list for The Passion of the Christ: Songs, according to Lost Keyword Records:

• Third Day, Steven Curtis Chapman, MercyMe - "I See Love"
• Scott Stapp (featuring the Tea Party) - "Relearn Love"
• P.O.D. - "Truly Amazing"
• Brad Paisley and Sara Evans - "New Again"
• Big Dismal - "Rainy Day"
• Lauryn Hill - "The Passion"
• Kirk Franklin (featuring Yolanda Adams) - "How Many Lashes"
• MxPx (featuring Mark Hoppus) - "The Empire"
• Charlotte Church - "Finding My Own Way"
• BeBe Winans and Angie Stone - "Miracle of Love"
• Dan Lavery - "To Give Love"
• Big Dismal - "Reason I Live"

• Creed
• Lauryn Hill
• P.O.D.
• MxPx

Beanie Sigel had been scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing in his attempted murder case on Thursday (August 21), but the hearing has been continued until Monday. Sigel remains in prison. ...

T-Mobile is hosting five free concerts that will take place simultaneously September 4 in New York (Ashanti), Los Angeles (311), Chicago (Jason Mraz), Dallas (Live) and Philadelphia (Fuel). Tickets can be acquired at www.tmobile.com. ...

Live From the Road, Chevelle's 10-track live album, will be available exclusively on the band's Web site (www.chevelleinc.com), which begins taking orders Tuesday. The LP, recorded during the band's spring tour, will ship September 2. ... Thanks to an invite from director John Landis, MxPx covered a few songs (including the theme) for the forthcoming 25th anniversary edition of "National Lampoon's Animal House," which is scheduled for release next week. The punk band has already shot a video for the song "Shout" and will perform at the launch party for the DVD. ...

Electronic duo Goldfrapp's remix of Marilyn Manson's new single, "This Is the New Sh--," was called "the most creative remix that anyone has done for me" by the man himself. The reworking will become available as an import single September 1. ... A dozen years after appearing naked as the day he was born on the cover of Nirvana's Nevermind, 12-year-old Spencer Elden has shot a second album cover, for The Dragon Experience, a recently released collaboration between Skinny Puppy principal Cevin Key and Ken "Hi Watt" Marshall. Key's girlfriend was once Elden's baby sitter. ...

Thursday recently enlisted Joakim Ahlund, who has worked with similarly minded Swedish hardcore band Refused and subsequent spinoff act (International) Noise Conspiracy, to direct the clip for "Signals Over the Air," the first single from their forthcoming major-label debut, War All the Time. ... Anti-Flag will be supported by Paint It Black, Pipedown and Thought Riot on a U.S. tour in support of their forthcoming album, The Terror State, which was produced by Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello. The trek will kick off October 14 with a record-release show in Cincinnati. ...

Aerosmith will attend a practice by their home team, the New England Patriots, on Tuesday and are expected to announce a new partnership with the NFL in the days ahead. ... Sheryl Crow has recorded a cover of Cat Stevens' "The First Cut Is the Deepest," which will be featured on an as-yet-untitled greatest-hits package due in early November. ...

Less Than Jake have posted the video for the song "The Science of Selling Yourself Short," from their latest album, Anthem, on their Web site, www.lessthanjake.com. ... Lou Barlow and Jason Lowenstein, the creative nucleus of indie rock darlings Sebadoh, will reunite for an acoustic show celebrating the 10th anniversary of Domino Records, whose first release was Sebadoh's 1992 EP, The Forest, according to the label's Web site. The show will take place October 14 in London. ...

Circle Jerks singer Keith Morris has posted on the band's Web site that he will not be participating in Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn's "reunion" shows, which have been billed as "Black Flag: The First Four Years." "I was told that my presence or services were not necessary," Morris wrote, adding, "I made a commitment to do the shows based on the word of one of the main players that [certain people] were going to be a part of it. ... If there is no appearance of Ron Reyes, Chuck Dukowski or myself I guess that would make it the last year of the first four, or some silly stupid such thing." Morris has already participated in several reunion-type shows (and the benefit album Rise Above) with fellow ex-Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins, where the Rollins Band performed Black Flag material in order to raise money for the legal aid of three West Memphis, Arkansas, men many believe were wrongly convicted of murder. ...

Former Bauhaus and Love and Rockets bassist David J will release his first solo album in seven years, Estranged, on September 9. The disc features a collaboration with Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro and drummer Stephen Perkins. The cut was sort of a payback to J, who co-wrote "Strays," the title track from the new Jane's album. Red House Painters frontman Mark Kozelek plays acoustic guitar and sings backup vocals on the record. ...

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced the launch of the DeWitt Clinton High School-Lehman College Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music, which was so-named to honor Cruz, the late Queen of Salsa. According to the Associated Press, 90 students from an applicant pool of 700 were accepted for this fall's freshman class. ... The Rolling Stones canceled their Wednesday Forty Licks Tour date in Amsterdam due to doctor's orders concerning frontman Mick Jagger's sore throat. A spokesperson for the band said that no other dates have yet been affected by Jagger's illness, though the group is erring on the side of caution. The scrapped show will be rescheduled for late September. ...

8.20.2003

It's Fred Durst's birthday, so he's bestowed upon himself the gift of yet another title change for the next Limp Bizkit album. The newly christened Results May Vary, Durst wrote on his band's Web site, is "like a prescription drug, each person's reaction to the ingredients will be differnet (sic)." The first pressings of the album will contain 35 minutes of DVD footage culled from a massive four-hour DVD called Poop, expected to come out before the end of the year. ...

A candlelight vigil will be held for Aaliyah on Monday, the two-year anniversary of her death. Fans are welcome to join and celebrate the singer's life at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York, from 4-7 p.m. ... On August 29, a day after their performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, Metallica will perform a rare club show at New York's Bowery Ballroom. Details on how to get tickets will be announced on radio station WXRK (K-Rock) on Friday. ...

Justin Timberlake, Swizz Beatz, DJ Clue, members of the Star Trak family and Kelly Osbourne in a "Clockwork Orange"-like getup all came out to New York's Chelsea Piers on Tuesday night for Pharrell Williams and his partner Chad Hugo's Neptunes Presents ... Clones album-release party. ... Tweet has titled her second album It's Me Again. A release date has not been set, but the singer says the first single is called "Thug Man." ...

Vanessa Carlton, Hootie & the Blowfish and Billy Bob Thornton have been added to the lineup for Farm Aid 2003, scheduled for September 7 in Columbus, Ohio. Emmylou Harris and Daniel Lanois will also join Sheryl Crow, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp and others at the event. ... Das EFX will release their first studio album in five years on September 23. How We Do includes the Dame Grease-produced single "Greezy," along with a collaboration with Sean Paul called "Memories." ...

Ever-quotable punk icon Jello Biafra countered a press release from his former Dead Kennedys bandmates, who invited him to participate in what he called "their cash-in nostalgia show in Hollywood on August 19th," with a press release of his own. "What's the matter, not enough Hot Topic bozo teens flocking to stuff cash in their bikinis? [Were] they having that much trouble selling tickets to a bar that holds less than 600 people?" he said, adding, "If they really want to 'bury the hatchet,' why won't they stop suing me? ... I feel sorry for anyone duped into paying top dollar for a ticket because they heard, 'I might be there.' But I hardly think I'm 'letting fans down' by refusing to be part of a nostalgia scam." ... Guided by Voices, Isaac Hayes, Phantom Planet, Rilo Kiley, the Dandy Warhols, Circle Jerks and Earlimart are among the performers slated for this weekend's Sunset Junction Street Fair in Los Angeles. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Sunset Neighborhood Alliance, a neighborhood improvement group. More information on the event and the organization can be found at www.sunsetjunction.org. ...

Along with a DVD he is directing, Moby will release a collection of B-sides from 18 on November 4. The album will include "Love of Strings," one of the most downloaded songs at Apple's iTunes store. ... Purchasers of Andrew W.K.'s The Wolf, due September 9, just might receive a thank-you call from Andrew himself — the zany rocker has announced a promotion to personally phone over a thousand of his fans who purchase his record. The first 250 people to pre-order the album on either his official site or www.amazon.com will receive a call; then, post-album release, he will ring up an additional 100 winners per week through a random drawing he will have on his site. ...

Kittie are taking another legal swing at Artemis Records in their effort to divorce themselves from the label. The band has filed a lawsuit claiming, among other things, that Artemis interfered with its ability to develop new income streams and to tour internationally, and that it offered Kittie inadequate promotion, resulting in a $2 million loss for the rockers. ... Orgy will release their third LP, tentatively titled Punk Statik Paranoia, in January on frontman Jay Gordon's new D1 Music label. ... A two-disc DVD collection called "The Ed Sullivan Show Featuring the Beatles" is set for an October 28 release. The four-hour compilation includes 20 live performances by the band, including "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "Yesterday." ...

• Beanie Sigel
• Ashanti
• Chevelle
• MxPx
• Sheryl Crow

MxPx
Photo: Tom Wisniewski

Lots of artists hype their songs in movie soundtracks and TV ads. Positive punkers MxPx do that too, but they're also relying on the Bush administration to help get the word out.

"Well Adjusted," one of the songs from their new album, Before Everything and After (September 16), is being used in a TV public service announcement by the President's Council on Drug Abuse and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. In January, the same song was used in a Diet Pepsi commercial that aired during the Super Bowl.

"We thought, 'This is great,' " bassist and vocalist Mike Herrera said of the exposure. "We didn't have to do a cheesy jingle. We didn't have to dress up in a clown outfit. Our whole goal was to get the song out there early and see what people think about it. When we played our last tour with Good Charlotte, we played that song every night, and people kept going, 'Dude, that song sounds so familiar. I just don't know how I know it.' "

The song takes a comical look at a guy who's not so well adjusted and seeks group therapy only to find that he's saner than the people around him. "Everybody's crazy in some way and everybody's weird, and that kind of makes us all the same in a lot of ways," Herrera said. "We're not alone, we just think we are."

In addition to being used in advertisements, "Well Adjusted" will be one of two MxPx songs featured in the upcoming MTV film "Wuthering Heights," based on the 1847 novel by Emily Brontë. In the movie, which also features the group's track "Play It Loud," MxPx play a club band and Herrera gets some action from a character played by Katherine Heigl ("Roswell," "Valentine").

"She takes me to her car and we start making out," he said. "She's definitely hot and really nice. It was absolutely a nice kiss, and it was cool because it was completely professional."

Despite the media saturation for "Well Adjusted," the song won't be the first single from Before Everything and After. Instead, the band will go with "Everything Sucks," which details the age-old problem of loneliness on tour.

"I wrote it about my girl," Herrera said. "I met her in Dallas where she lived and I wouldn't see her most of the time. Now she comes and visits a lot and we're pretty happy. There's always something in life to complain about. And this would be one of those things, but I get to do something so amazing that it's almost made me who I am. It's hard to complain about that."

MxPx will open for Dashboard Confessional starting August 30 in Pittsburgh. Dates run through October 7 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

• MxPx

Good Charlotte's Joel Madden
Photo: MTV

WEST HOLLYWOOD, California — If New Found Glory and Good Charlotte are as competitive about their live shows as they are about the cars they designed for the third annual Civic Tour, concertgoers are in for a treat.

"Our car's faster," boasted Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden at Tuesday's (February 25) press conference to announce the tour, which is co-sponsored by "TRL."

"That's 'cause our massive video game system weighs us down," New Found Glory drummer Cyrus Bolooki shot back. "And all the people stopping to see how cool it is weighs us down."

"Our car is weighed down with crazy hos," countered Madden's twin brother, Benji.

A mediator quickly stepped in. "Fire hoses, that is," a Honda executive said with a smile.

Of course, New Found Glory and Good Charlotte were joking — something they do well and often. The bands are far from competitive and have been friends since they toured together three years ago. "It's been a good experience learning from them and growing up together," Benji said.

Joel said the groups would definitely be joining each other onstage during the 47-date co-headlining trek.

"And we're going to share our beds, 'cause we heard that's the best way to show our love," chimed in New Found Glory bassist Ian Grushka to the applause of his audience: his bandmates.

"Thank you, Blanket," added Joel to more cheer.

New Found Glory and Good Charlotte weren't all jokes, however, especially when asked about the tour's openers, Less Than Jake and MxPx, who'll be splitting the dates.

"Those are two bands that took both our bands out when we were starting," NFG guitarist Chad Gilbert said. "So we're giving back to two bands that helped us out early on, and that means a lot."

While Benji said Good Charlotte chose the Civic Tour because his sister drives an '89 Civic and "the kids can win these cars, and these cars are nicer than the cars anyone in my band drives," his brother gave a more serious answer.

"There's a million reasons to get involved," he said. "Being able to offer lower ticket prices to our fans is probably the biggest reason, but also we got to customize Civics, and I love cars."

Benji — who at one point shouted, "Toyota sucks. Honda what!" — seemed to make up for his "hos" comment by saying, "I want to point out how impressed I am with Honda, just being able to see the scene we're involved in. There's not many companies that would want to be involved in the culture that we're in at a major level like this, so we're all very surprised."

"I heard all the presidents of Honda are getting tattoos," Joel added.

As with past Civic Tours, which have featured Incubus, Blink-182 and Everclear, the bands will be joined on the road by the cars designed by each band. Twelve vehicles have been customized and each will be given away through contests, including one on the tour's Web site that starts March 27.

Good Charlotte called their design, a pimped-out play off the album artwork for The Young and the Hopeless, "a ghetto redneck's dream." "I come from a place called Waldorf, Maryland, and it's every kid's dream to have a lowrider, so we were really excited to put on all the things we couldn't have at home, like rims and the Alpine stereo system," Joel said.

New Found Glory's similarly loaded fire engine red design was inspired by insides jokes amongst the bandmembers, including made-up people whose names appear in strange places on the car.

The first leg of the Civic Tour will kick off April 8 in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and wrap up June 7 in Los Angeles. Dates for a second leg will be announced later. Tickets go on sale Friday, and a pre-sale begins Tuesday on the tour's Web site.

"It's a more extensive tour than any of us would have ever been able to do," Benji said. "And we're not just hitting big cities. We're starting in North Dakota. Those kids deserves good shows too!"

Civic Tour dates, according to the publicist:

• 4/8 - Grand Forks, ND @ Alerus Center
• 4/9 - Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
• 4/10 - Chicago IL @ UIC Pavilion
• 4/11 - Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
• 4/12 - Detroit, MI @ Cobo Arena
• 4/13 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Delta Plex
• 4/15 - Indianapolis, IN @ Pepsi Coliseum
• 4/16 - Dayton, OH @ Hara Arena
• 4/17 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Peterson Center
• 4/18 - Cleveland, OH @ Tower Amphitheatre
• 4/21 - Hershey, PA @ Giant Center
• 4/22 - Rochester, NY @ Blue Cross Arena
• 4/24 - Worcester, MA @ Centrum
• 4/25 - Portland, ME @ Cumberland County Civic Center
• 4/26 - Hartford, CT @ Civic Center
• 4/27 - Albany, NY @ Sienna College
• 4/30 - Poughkeepsie, NY @ Marist College's McCann Center
• 5/1 - Hampton, VA @ Hampton Coliseum
• 5/2 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Union Spectrum
• 5/3 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
• 5/4 - Washington, DC @ Patriot Center
• 5/6 - Charlotte, NC @ Cricket Arena
• 5/7 - Atlanta, GA @ Gwinnett Civic Center
• 5/8 - Greenville, SC @ Timmons Arena
• 5/10 - Sunrise, FL @ Office Depot Center
• 5/11 - Tampa, FL @ USF Sundome
• 5/13 - Orlando, FL @ TD Waterhouse Centre
• 5/14 - Birmingham, AL @ Boutwell Auditorium
• 5/15 - New Orleans, LA @ State Palace
• 5/16 - Houston, TX @ Reliant Arena
• 5/17 - Dallas, TX @ Smirnoff Music Center
• 5/18 - San Antonio, TX @ Sunken Gardens
• 5/20 - St. Louis, MO @ Family Arena
• 5/21 - Kansas City, KS @ City Market
• 5/22 - Lincoln, NE @ Pershing Auditorium
• 5/23 - Denver, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
• 5/26 - Seattle, WA @ Seahawk Stadium Exhibition Center
• 5/27 - Portland, OR @ Memorial Coliseum
• 5/28 - Boise, ID @ Bank of America Center
• 5/29 - Salt Lake City, UT @ E Center Ford Theater
• 5/30 - Las Vegas, NV @ Cox Pavilion
• 5/31 - San Jose, CA @ SJSU Events Center
• 6/1 - Bakersfield, CA @ Centennial Garden Arena
• 6/3 - Phoenix, AZ @ Mesa Amphitheatre
• 6/4 - Irvine, CA @ Bren Center
• 6/5 - Santa Barbara, CA @ County Bowl
• 6/7 - Los Angeles, CA @ Universal Amphitheatre

[This story was updated on 02.25.03 at 7:20 p.m. ET.]

• Good Charlotte
• New Found Glory
• Less Than Jake
• MxPx

So. Cal. punksters the Offspring have just announced plans for a North American tour in November and December to support the band's new album, "Conspiracy Of One," slated to arrive in stores on November 14.

For the outing, currently scheduled to kick off on November 17 in Anaheim, California, the group will be joined by smokin' rappers Cypress Hill and Warped Tour vets MxPx.

While the Offspring have only confirmed a few of the tour venues, the group has already lined-up 16 dates for the month-long run, which will wind down on December 17 in Philadelphia.

The day "Conspiracy Of One" is released, the group plans to announce the $1 million dollar winner of its exclusive downloadable music contest (see "Offspring Offering New Album, $1 Million Online").

One lucky fan will take home the cash, which the band is putting up itself, simply for downloading a free MP3 of the band's new single, "Original Prankster" from various online sites, including MTV.com. Check out the Offspring's Bands A-Z page for details.

Here's how the Offspring's fall tour plans are shaping up:

• 11/17 - Anaheim, CA
• 11/18 Los Angeles, CA @ Great Western Forum
• 11/21 Las Vegas, NV @ Thomas & Mack Center
• 11/22 San Diego, CA @ Cox Arena
• 11/24 Sacramento, CA @ ARCO Arena
• 11/25 San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Center
• 11/27 - Salt Lake City, UT
• 11/28 - Denver, CO
• 12/1 - Detroit, MI
• 12/5 - Toronto, ON
• 12/6 - Montreal, QC
• 12/9 - Chicago, IL
• 12/13 - Worcester, MA
• 12/15 - Washington, DC
• 12/16 - New York, NY
• 12/17 - Philadelphia, PA

• Cypress Hill
• MxPx
• The Offspring

In our secular century, intellectual trends -- from Communism to existentialism and psychoanalysis -- have been not only indifferent but openly hostile to religion. Probably the last place most people might expect to see a religious resurgence at this point would be the pop-music market. But that's exactly what's been happening this year: Christian songwriter Bob Carlisle topped the pop chart with his "Butterfly Kisses" album, while Christian acts such Kirk Franklin, DC talk, Amy Grant, and Jars of Clay have regularly scored top 20 hits. Not only has Christian rock come of age -- it also has its own very busy festival circuit, which recently drew us to a show in the Pacific Northwest.

THE TOM FESTIVAL: STEVENSON, WASHINGTON

RICHIE: The Bible says you're supposed to make a joyful noise unto the Lord. And if the joyful noise unto the Lord means, you know, loud drums and distorted guitars, then that's what it is.

MIKE BRIDGES, Director of The Tom Festival: It's not Michael W. Smith, it's not Amy Grant. It's all alternative, it's everything from coffee rock to punk rock and everything in between.

ADAM: It's positive. It sounds just like the secular stuff only with like a much more positive message to it.

LEE: A lot of the secular scene, it's just like, I mean, a lot of it's depressing. There's a lot of songs about suicide and drug use and stuff like that.

AARON: My favorite band was Nine Inch Nails. And God told me that I needed to get rid of it.

(Walking festival grounds) Lyle, What's up dude? He's got the "Pray for Marilyn Manson shirt" on.

AUTUMN: Dude, cool shirt.

CHELSEA: That's disgusting. Pray for Marilyn, no I can't stomach that. C'mon guys. No, I'm serious, that makes me want to throw up.

When I listen to secular music, a lot of the times, like, I feel empty. But you come here, man, and the Christian music... It's like you just feel full, man, and then you're like running around, jumping around, being like "Ahhhhh!!!"

SEAN: I went to the H.O.R.D.E. festival last year. At H.O.R.D.E., I felt like a spectator. I was kind of looking around at people and it was people just burying themselves in their vices. It was just alcohol and it was drug use, you know. I come here and it's a little more communal.

CHELSEA: It's like a family, man, all these people. We have one thing in common, and that's Jesus Christ, man. It's so rad, when we can like get together and we can just love on each other and we don't have any fear or any shyness. We're bold. [1.7MB QuickTime]

MTV: Is there anything rebellious about Christian rock?

MARK: It goes against -- when you flip on your radio, how many stations are not Christian rock? Tons.

LEE: And a lot of it goes against what a lot of people in our traditional church setting... they're not necessarily into the heavier music and stuff like that, but that's what kids today and just people that are our age relate to.

CHELSEA: Today, man, it was great. Dude, I got some quiet time with God, I got to pray, I got to enjoy the wonderful weather... Today was totally incredible, totally awesome with Jesus Christ. It was radical.

MTV: What's left tonight?

CHELSEA: Tonight, man, tonight, what's tonight? MXPX is tonight.

• MxPx

MTV Exclusive: MxPx Photos

• MxPx