**1/2 MXPX

THE EVER PASSING MOMENT

(A & M/Interscope)

Among the legions of Green Day-inspired teenagers to form bands in the mid '90s, MxPx, from Bremerton, Washington, have always been one of the most promising. Bassist/vocalist Mike Herrera's wise-beyond-his-years lyrics about growing up are reflective and intelligent. The band's punchy, crisp rhythms and buoyant melodies are by no means a revelation, but they're fun and that's the point. In calling their 1995 album Teenage Politics, the pop-punk trio recognized that their peers weren't just into potty humor and dick jokes (not that there's anything wrong with that); 1996's Life in General seemed to indicate, at least on the surface, that MxPx were looking at the world from a post-high-school place and ready to go forward.

But though they've moved on, to Warped Tours and a major label (since A&M's 1997 reissue of Life In General), the group haven't made creative headway with The Ever Passing Moment. From Jerry (Green Day, Blink-182, Rancid) Finn's rote production to facile Elvis Costello cops ("Responsibility") to a surprising lapse in the focus of their lyrics, MxPx let their guard down and phone in a by-the-numbers effort it didn't seem they had in them. "I've got a lot to say," Herrera sings on "Responsibility." Unfortunately, this time he really doesn't.

-- Mark Woodlief