Album number three from the Bremerton boys would be my entrance into punk rock. It was 1996, and the band was touring with Less Than Jake, opening up for their shows with the Hippos, and I got to see them live and in person. They played the Roxy in Hollywood, and the show was sold out. I got a scalped ticket and saw them play a 30-minute set, which included many tracks from this very record. “Life in General” is a staple for me because I bought the record on CD, cassette, and MP3, and still listen to it today via streaming. The band seemed unstoppable in their mix of pop and punk with “Life in General”, and that’s something that stays strong even today.
When people ask me to recommend records, I often cite this as my favorite in punk rock. The band would grow into a monster, shaking the dust off their Christian roots and becoming a more generalized band. The general audience is not a downside, as the band found ways to illustrate the record title with tracks that spoke to the whole of existence as a young person. To this day, “My Mom Still Cleans My Room”, “The Wonder Years”, “Doing Time”, and “Correct Me If I’m Wrong” stand tall amidst the growing-up phase, and yet they still ring accurate as an adult.
“Life in General” is one of the top iconic punk rock records you will want to listen to repeatedly. The band just solidified the skate punk, pop punk, and punk rock labels to fit into a classic that will not go away. No matter what, Mxpx punched their card to punk rock glory with the release of this record.
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