Y’all better to get ready to put your boxing gloves on. You ready for this? Pokinatcha is the best MxPx (Magnified Plaid) album. Why? It was melodic, but still very much punk–bordering even on old school hardcore at times. It’s by far their most unique record, before they settled into the more polished pop-punk sound that everyone remembers.
To be clear, I have no problem with the direction they later took (except for maybe moving further away from Christian spirituality and theology as the years went by, but that’s another post altogether). I just very much preferred that early, raw, raucous sound.
But let’s get back to that spirituality issue for a moment. Pokinatcha is full of biblical references (“something inside those jars of clay!”), musings about attitudes (“do you need some aspirin for your bad hair day?”), and then there’s this little ditty right here.
Sure, “Want Ad” is a touch naive. Maybe it paints an unrealistic picture. But there was something pure about the desire to meet a special someone whose heart was sold out to Jesus. I was a few years older than the band members (still am, that’s how age works!), but even as a 20-something, I really related to the wholehearted desire to fall in love with a girl who “talks to Jesus all day long.” Fortunately for me, I found her, and “she’s the only one for me.”
I agree 100% with everything you said in this post. Great album.
Same can be said for Five Iron Frenzy and Upbeats and Downbeats. Always wished their later albums were more punk and raw. . .