Why Pop Punk Isn't Dead: The New Generation of Pop-Punk
If you turn on your radio today, you'll find the airwaves splattered with catchy R&B songs mixed in with alternative and rap. Rewind to twenty years ago, when you could find more rock-based hits on the very same kind of stations. The 90s proved to be a crucial decade for more than just political scandals - it proved to be the era of the movement of pop punk.
In 1992, a band named Blink-182 formed. Made up of just a bunch of troublesome teenage boys, Blink seemed to be that band you'd love to see fail and would probably dream about being in - at the same time. With the snarky edge that a lot of music today has lost, Blink-182 kickstarted the popularity of the pop punk genre with their playful attitude and realistic lyrics. Blink-182 started out as a nothing three-man band playing local shows and releasing untitled demos (now lost to the masses) to a worldwide inspiration for rock stars and normal teenagers, even going so far as to influence bands like Fall Out Boy and All Time Low.
Fast forward to 1997, where a band named New Found Glory is coming alive. Although they never quite reached the commercial success Blink did, New Found Glory proves to be just as influential for any aspiring pop punk artist now. With listener-friendly songs like "Friends Over You" defining almost the entire span of their career, New Found Glory headlined the 2011 "Pop Punk's Not Dead Tour" to sold out shows nationwide.
With this kind of past to keep up with, the future of this genre is something that many people ponder. How will the iconic pop punk genre remain true to its roots when music today has become so warped with development of newer technology allowing people to invent their own genres such as dubstep? The answer is simple: it just will. Where pop punk goes, the roots stay where they are.
The summer of 2011 was an amazing experience for me. Although it was spent with me mainly lounging around my house and wishing for better summer stories to tell to my friends that didn't consist of me going to the beach, I rediscovered my love for pop punk. The revival of this genre really came into play when talented bands started gaining the attention they rightfully deserved. The summer of 2011 was a summer of music. With school ending and Warped Tour announcing their lineup and me panicking over not knowing many of the bands, I settled down, plugged in my headphones, and listened.
That summer, I discovered that pop punk really wasn't dead. Many of the bands I began listening to weren't exactly new, but they were definitely new to me. The Wonder Years' Suburbia, I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing, Man Overboard's Real Talk, Set Your Goals' Mutiny!, and Fireworks' Gospel became the soundtrack of my summer. With those albums, I learned that I'm never truly alone, that many people go through what I go through, and that there's always hope. Pop punk isn't a genre defined by time, it's a genre defined by everyday life. A genre that appeals to the masses without even them really being aware of it (Good Charlotte or Green Day, anyone?), pop punk is one of the most universally appealing genres out there.
With all this being said, pop punk isn't dead. It may never have even left. All I know is that with all these amazing bands coming out with even more amazing music, I'm not too worried as to where the future lies for this genre. From bands like Jimmy Eat World to Sum 41 to Yellowcard to A Loss For Words, development from here on out can only occur, and the ride should be as amazing as the journey was.
