MxPx and Relient K

The return of West Coast punk veterans MxPx to St. Louis can mean only one thing: hundreds of colorfully clad punk rockers waiting to be picked up by their parents outside the Pageant. Seasoned pros at the sport of power pop-punk, MxPx have been putting out albums full of short sing-along songs for more than a decade (their first release was 1995's Pokinatcha), and they've managed to have lasting power amid a frenzy of people looking for the next big thing. With a new, boiled-down sound that leaves the sugary sweetness of previous albums behind, MxPx offered up this year's Panic, a return to their hard-and-fast roots. And although Relient K is only half as old as MxPx, the band's meaningful, lyrical storytelling has created significant crowd pull after the release of 2004's MMHMM and the new Apathetic EP.