In the wake of Green Day, there emerged enough contestants in the power-pop- punk sweepstakes that standing out in the crowd required an excess of talent. As displayed on LET IT HAPPEN, MXPX has enough hook-heavy songwriting prowess, instrumental facility and street credibility to rise to the top of the aforementioned heap. Though the sound is defined by crashing power chords, jackhammer beats and purposefully snotty vocals, there's enough variety to the tunes here to keep things from ever getting too monochromatic. Despite any pop-star ambitions the band may harbor, though, they're apparently just grown- up skate-punks at heart, as made clear by the skateboarding squirt who adorns LET IT HAPPEN's front cover.