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Pop Punk

Characteristics/Symptoms:

 

  • Fuses elements of punk rock with pop music

  • Bad Religion are considered to be the godfathers of pop punk

  • California is considered the hub of pop punk, so much so that sometimes the genre is referred to as SoCal

  • Important albums: Green Day's Dookie, The Offspring's Smash and Blink 182's Enema of The State

  • Independent labels adopted a DIY approach to releasing music

  • Part of the alternative music scene

  • Associated with skating, skate parks, a skater fashion and tatoos

  • A community genre, social responsibility, outlaws and friendships.

  • A method of letting go, cheeky sexually horny, rebelling and opportunist attitude and having a fun lifestyle. They unleash their emotion and dissapoints. Rebellion outside the mainstream. Less ostracizing of the sub-cultures of punk.

  • Associated with young white male bands.

  • Is now part of mainstream popularity

  • It reminds many people of their carefree childhoods and therefore has been used as the soundtracks to movies which are set in high schools (American Pie, Scary Movie, Not Another Teen Movie, Loser), as well as computer games played by people from that scene. 

  • Anti-materalism and anti-establishment

  • The "Pop" in the pop punk allows for a catchy and emotional take on the genre . The "punk" is the agressive undertone and backing of hard-rock guitars,

  • The anger and edge of punk without being too serious

  • Many people turned to it in the 1990s as an alternative to shiny pop and alternative rock.

  • Often short songs

  • Part of a culture of sharing music and researching others and built avenues to finding other music.

  • Gang vocals and power chords

  • Often (but not always) quite fast and with a rushed direction

  • Many musicians excuse for getting into bands in the first place.

  • To many people it's their soundtrack to their tradgies, break-ups and relationships and was their guide to life

  • Carefree and a genre that dosen't take itself too seriously

  • It's now come back to it's DIY ethics in recent years

  • The balance between music that has meaning but also is fun to listen to. It's honest, unprententious, relatable and immediate.

  • Simple songs written by regular humble people. It makes friends and many people connect with the idea. Gigs themselves feel like home for homeless. It's a culture.

  • Pop sensibility with punk ethics and work habits

  • Bedroom music

  • Dealing love, parents, life and "the system".

  • For bad days and good days and is connected to summer.

  • Rebel against nu-metal

  • It brings people together and always there for you. "Pop Punk brings people together, it reminds us that we're not the only one working that shitty dead end job, chasing that girl or just trying to get through each day"- Bob Cooper (All Aboard Records)

  • "It rules!" (it has it's own lexicon)

 

 

Paraphrased from Last FM and Wiki and Alter The Press

 

Origin: Mid 1970s

Popularity: Mid 1980s to present

 

Anthems:

 

1. Bad Religion- 21st Century Boy (Against The Grain)

2. Blink 182- What's My Age Again? (Enema of the State)

3. Green Day- Basket Case (Dookie)

4. The Offspring- Self Esteem (Smash)

5. Simple Plan- I'm Just A Kid (No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls)

6. Avril Lavigne- Sk8er Boi (Let Go)

7. New Found Glory- Anthem For The Unwanted (Radiosurgery)

8. Yellowcard- Ocean Avenue (Ocean Avenue)

9. Paramore- Crushcrushcrush (Riot!)

10. All Time Low- Dear Maria, Count Me In (So Wrong, It's Right)

11. You Me at Six- Underdog (Hold Me Down)

12. Fall Out Boy- Dance Dance (From Under The Cork Tree)

13. Man Overboard- White Lies (Heart Attack)

14. Good Charlotte- Girls & Boys (The Young and The Hopeless)

15. Sum 41- Fat Lip (All Killer No Filler)---also counts as rapcore

16. Mayday Parade- When You Get Home, You're So Dead (A Lesson In Romantics)

17. The Wonder Years- Melrose Diner (The Upsides)

18. The Vandals- Pizza Tran (Fear of a Punk Planet)

19. Dashboard Confessional- Vindicated (Dusk & Summer)

20. Transit- Young New England (Young New England)

21. Bowling for Soup- Girls All The Bad Guys Want (Drunk Enough To Dance)

22. The All American Rejects- Gives You Hell  (When The World Comes Down)

 

 

 

 

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