Rockin' Tooth and Nail

Those who thought Blink-182’s slow descent from raw punk rock to a watered-down, made-for-MTV version of the same genre signified the end of the in-your-face music were wrong. \nPunk “rawk” is alive and well, and the torch is being carried by one of the genre’s longest-lasting groups, MxPx. Known for its consistent punk sound and steady following, MxPx has fittingly taken on the title of headliner for the 3rd Annual Tooth and Nail Tour, which stopped in Indianapolis on Thursday.\nMxPx shared the stage Thursday night with pop-punk groups Hawk Nelson, The Classic Crime, The Fold and Sullivan, who rounded out the line-up.\nNext to MxPx, the other groups are novices to the world of punk-pop. MxPx released its first album in 1994, while the next-oldest group on the tour, Hawk Nelson, released its debut album a decade later.\nMxPx guitarist Tom Wisniewski thinks the gap is hardly an issue.\n“We’re just all bands hanging out. Whether we’ve been together for a decade or ten weeks – it doesn’t really matter. We’re all here to play music and here to play it well.”\nSullivan opened the show while teenagers wearing black T-shirts and Chuck Taylor shoes, the staple punk-indie uniform boasting a lifetime nearly as long as that of MxPx, drifted into the venue.\nSullivan frontman Brooks Paschal was excited about his group’s appearance on the tour, especially to promote the release of its sophomore album, “Cover Your Eyes,” which hits record shelves Tuesday.\n“It’s just a really good, honest record,” Paschal said after Sullivan’s set Thursday. “As a band I think we’ve figured out who we are for this one – it’s more motivated; you just believe in it more.”\nPaschal was equally elated about touring with MxPx.\n“They are one of my favorite bands, if not my favorite band. They’ve really been an inspiration.”\nThe tour’s four openers warmed up the crowd for an ear-pumping three hours before MxPx finally took the stage for a full hour of pure punk rock. Singer and bassist Mike Herrera took requests from the eager audience and spent a good portion of the show honoring them.\nFilling in for MxPx drummer Yuri Ruley, whose wife had a baby three weeks ago, was The Summer Obsession’s drummer Chris Wilson. Handpicked by the absent Yuri, he did an impressive job jumping in to play the band’s songs – a couple of which he had never heard before.\nMxPx is slated to release its newest album “Secret Weapon” this July. The lyrics of the new album address a few of the idiosyncrasies of today’s society, such as excessive text messaging. \n“It comes from just looking at the world and the way it’s changed, as well as growing up a bit,” Wisniewski said. \nDespite criticizing society’s dependency on technology, Wisniewski was optimistic about the new album’s brighter tone, which he compared to his band’s 2005 album, “Panic.”\n“‘Panic’ was a pretty dark record, but with this album, there is definitely a more uplifting message.”\nMxPx recently rejoined Tooth and Nail Records, the label that gave the group its start back in 1994. After a rough falling out with the label, MxPx found refuge with A&M Records before joining up with indie label Side One Dummy.\n“It was well-known that there was ‘bad blood’ between the band and Tooth and Nail for a while,” Wisniewski said. \nWhen asked about the return, he cracked a smile. “They asked us if we wanted to record a few songs for an extended version of ‘Let It Happen’ (a 1998 compilation), and we started working with them again. It went really well, almost like a healing, and it just grew from there. It felt like a homecoming.”\nThe tour’s stop in Indianapolis took place at The Irving Theater, a historic building that originally opened in 1913 as a nickelodeon theater. After 81 years of showing movies, the Irving closed in 1994 and has since been revived as the largest all-ages music venue in Indianapolis. \n“We try to select events that will hopefully appeal to a wide range of people, including the underage crowd,” Joe Wisner, an owner of the theater, stated.\nThe Tooth and Nail Tour did just that. The punk-rock teenagers brought their parents in plaid button-ups and pleated khakis, while the show also caught a few 20-somethings, most of whom displayed long-standing loyalty to punk rock in MxPx tour T-shirts from the ’90s. \nWisniewski also commented on the wide range of fans MxPx has amassed over the years. \n“We’ve had some shows on this tour in bars and clubs and there’ll be an older guy sitting at the bar who’s just like, ‘Right on, man!’ and then up front you’ve got teenagers just going ‘Ahh!’” he said as he waved his hands in the air, mimicking the younger fans.\n“Secret Weapon” will be released a month after the tour ends June 11 in Salt Lake City.\n“This tour is pretty bad timing to promote our album, since it comes out a month after the tour is over.” Wisniewski said. “All we can do is tell people about it now and hope they don’t forget come July.”