Pop punk

Pop punk
Stylistic origins	Punk rock, pop, surf rock, power pop, garage rock, new wave
Cultural origins	Mid-1970s United States, United Kingdom, Canada and other countries
Typical instruments	Vocals - Electric guitar - Bass - Drums - Occasional use of other instruments (such as keyboards)
Mainstream popularity	Various degrees of commercial success since the late 1970s; massive international commercial success in the 1990s and 2000s
Other topics
List of pop punk bands - Skate punk - Ska punk - Alternative rock - Melodic hardcore

Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars. About.com has described contemporary pop punk bands as having "a radio friendly sheen to their music, but still maintaining much of the speed and attitude of classic punk rock".

It is not clear when the term pop punk was first used, but pop-influenced punk rock had been around since the mid- to late-1970s. An early use of the term pop punk appeared in a 1977 New York Times article, "Cabaret: Tom Petty's Pop Punk Rock Evokes Sounds of 60s". In the mid-1990s, the California pop punk bands Green Day and The Offspring, who were later followed by Blink-182, would all achieve worldwide commercial success. From the mid-1990s onwards, some bands associated with the genre have been described as "happy punk", "faux-punk", "mall punk", "pseudo-punk" or "bubblegum punk".

History

Origins (1974-1989)

Further information: Punk rock

Protopunk and power pop bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s helped lay the groundwork for the pop punk sound, which emerged at the onset of punk rock around 1974 with the Ramones. The Ramones' loud and fast melodic minimalism differentiated them from other bands in New York City's budding art rock scene, but pop punk was not considered a separate subgenre until later. The music of the Buzzcocks, Generation X, 999, The Jam, The Rezillos, The Lurkers, The Undertones, The Shapes and Toy Dolls featured catchy melodies, as well as lyrics that sometimes dealt with relatively light themes such as teenage romance. The US band Bad Religion, who started in 1979, were another band that helped lay the groundwork for contemporary pop punk. Many mod revival bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s also displayed pop punk leanings.

By 1981, hardcore punk had emerged in the United States, with louder, faster music than punk bands. Vocal harmony, melodic instrumentation and 4/4 drumming were replaced with shouting, discordant instrumentation, and experimental rhythms. A few bands, such as Descendents, Screeching Weasel, and The Vandals, began to combine hardcore with pop music to create a new, faster pop punk sound. Their positive yet sarcastic approach began to separate them from the more serious hardcore scene. In the 1980s, the term pop punk was used in publications such as Maximum RocknRoll to describe bands similar to Social Distortion, Agent Orange, and T.S.O.L..

Independent pop punk (1990-1993)

Guttermouth - live in concert

Pop punk in the United States underwent a resurgence in the early- to mid-1990s, although the genre was not commercially viable at that time. Many pop punk bands retained a do it yourself (DIY) approach to their music, and a number of independent record labels emerged during that period, often run by band members who wanted to release their own music and that of their friends. The independent labels SST/Cruz Records, Lookout! Records, Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph Records were about to achieve mainstream success.

Popular acceptance (1994-1997)

In February 1994, Green Day released Dookie, the band's first album on a major record label, after starting out on the independent Lookout! Records in 1989. The first single, "Longview", instantly became a hit on MTV and modern rock stations across North America and the United Kingdom. Following the success of their first single, Green Day released "Basket Case", which became an even bigger hit. Other hits from the album included "When I Come Around", "Welcome to Paradise" and "She". As of 2007, Dookie has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. Green Day performed at Woodstock '94 and on Saturday Night Live, and appeared on the covers of Spin and Rolling Stone magazines. They won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.

Soon after the release of Dookie, The Offspring released the album Smash on the independent label Epitaph Records. The first single, "Come Out and Play", had a pop punk sound that differed from their earlier work, and it became popular first on radio and later on MTV. Other singles, "Self Esteem" and "Gotta Get Away", sold well. The album sold over 14 million copies worldwide, setting a record for most albums sold on an independent label. By the end of the year, Dookie and Smash had sold millions of copies. The commercial success of these two albums attracted major label interest in punk, particularly Epitaph bands from Southern California, with Bad Religion, NOFX and Rancid reportedly being offered lucrative contracts. Also during this period, Face to Face released their breakthrough album Big Choice, featuring their only top 40 hit "Disconnected", which also became popular on the Los Angeles radio station KROQ. 1998 saw the MxPx debut major label release of Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo, making the hits like "I'm OK, You're OK", "Party, My House, Be There", and "What's Mine is Yours". The album went Gold 2 years later.

In the early- to mid-1990s, ska punk achieved commercial success in the United States and several other countries. Some ska punk music — by bands such as Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger, Sublime and Less Than Jake — shared many characteristics with pop punk.

By 1997, pop punk's audience had expanded significantly and the genre had been brought to new levels of mainstream acceptance.

Continued mainstream ascent (1998-2002)

In 1998, The Offspring released the album Americana, which went platinum many times over, and produced hit singles such as "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)", "Why Don't You Get a Job?" and "The Kids Aren't Alright". In 1999, Blink-182 released Enema of the State, which sold over 15 million copies worldwide. The album had three hit singles, including the number 1 single "All the Small Things" and the number 2 singles "What's My Age Again?" and "Adam's Song". Also in 1999, Lit released their second album, A Place in the Sun, which peaked at number 31 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the single "My Own Worst Enemy", which spent 11 weeks at number 1 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart.

In 2000, The Offspring released their next album Conspiracy of One on Napster before they released it on Columbia Records, sacrificing album sales so their fans could hear their music for free. The same year, MxPx released The Ever Passing Moment which proved the hit "Responsibility", charting at number 24 on the Alternative Rock chart. In 2001, Sum 41 released their major label debut All Killer No Filler, which went multi-platinum and included the hit singles "Fat Lip", "In Too Deep" and "Motivation", all of which were featured prominently on TRL and modern rock charts. American Hi-Fi released their successful debut album which included the top ten hit "Flavor of the Weak". Also that year, Blink-182's album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket debuted at number 1 on the Billboard album charts and sold over four million copies in the United States. The album included the modern rock and TRL hits "The Rock Show", "First Date" and "Stay Together for the Kids".

In 2002, Good Charlotte released their second album, The Young and the Hopeless, which went triple platinum. Also in 2002, Simple Plan released their debut album No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls, and Face to Face released How to Ruin Everything, which would be their final album before disbanding two years later. Also that year, Blink-182 co-headlined one of the biggest concert tours in pop punk history, the Pop Disaster Tour with Green Day. In summer 2002, New Found Glory released their third album, Sticks and Stones, which experienced a fair amount of mainstream success with singles such as "My Friends Over You" and "Head on Collision". Sum 41 released their second album, Does This Look Infected, in 2002, giving them a harder sound with the singles "Still Waiting", "Over My Head (Better Off Dead)" and "The Hell Song". Solo artist Avril Lavigne has found success since 2002, combining confessional self-empowerment and teenage-angst lyrics with a pop punk catchy guitar-based sound. Some have referred to her as a "pop punk princess".

Contemporary mainstream pop punk (2003-present)

In 2003, The Ataris released their breakthrough album So Long, Astoria, which included their first top 40 hit, a cover of "The Boys of Summer". Also in 2003, Blink-182 released a self-titled album that garnered several hits, such as "Feeling This" and "I Miss You". Also that year, Yellowcard's Ocean Avenuefeatured the hit singles "Ocean Avenue", "Way Away" and "Only One", and The Offspring's Splinter spawned another number 1 US hit with "Hit That". MxPx's Before Everything and After debuted at number 51 on the Billboard 200 to critical acclaim.

In 2004, New Found Glory released Catalyst, which included the hit "All Downhill from Here". In May 2004, Avril Lavigne released Under My Skin, which was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Hawthorne Heights released their debut album The Silence in Black and White in August 2004, and it was certified gold in the United States. In October 2004, Sum 41 released the album Chuck. Its first single, "We're All to Blame", reached number 10 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks charts, and the single "Pieces" topped the charts in Canada. Also that year, Simple Plan released their second album Still Not Getting Any.... Its first single, "Welcome to My Life", reached number 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart and the Spanish Singles Chart, as well as reaching number 10 on the Top 40 Mainstream chart and number 21 on the Top 40 Tracks. Green Day released the rock opera album American Idiot in September 2004. The singles "American Idiot", "Jesus of Suburbia", "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", "Holiday" and "Wake Me Up When September Ends" received international airplay and MTV video rotation, and topped charts worldwide.

In 2005, MxPx released Panic which featured the radio hits "Heard That Sound" and "Wrecking Hotel Rooms".

In 2007, Sum 41 released the album Underclass Hero, which reached number 1 on the Top Canadian Albums chart. Around the same time, Avril Lavigne released the album The Best Damn Thing, which reached number 1 on the Billboard 200 and other charts, and was the fourth-best-selling album of the year. Also in 2007, Relient K released their fifth album Five Score and Seven Years Ago which debuted at number 6 on the Billboard 200.

All Time Low became commercially successful in the late 2000s, gaining popularity with their albums So Wrong, It's Right (2007) and Nothing Personal (2009). In June 2008, The Offspring released the album Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, featuring their most successful single "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid", which topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks charts for 11 weeks, making it the longest consecutive run for any Offspring single at number 1.

In December 2009, All Time Low won the Best Pop Punk Band award at the Top In Rock Awards. In February 2009, Blink-182 reunited onstage for the first time since 2005, at the 51st Grammy Awards, announcing their reformation as a band. Also in 2009, Green Day released their rock opera album 21st Century Breakdown. Although not as critically acclaimed as American Idiot, it has still sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide.

See also

• List of pop punk bands

External links

• The Mod Pop Punk Archives - includes information about early pop punk bands
• Punk pop - article about pop punk music
• The Buzzcocks, Founders of Pop Punk - article about the Buzzcock's role in developing pop punk genre
• Pop Punk Radio - Free Pop Punk Radio from SKY.FM