Pop-punk

Template:Punkbox Pop punk (also known as punk pop) is a fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees.

This genre developed in several cities throughout the world in the 1980s and early 1990s, although it was largely California-based bands that achieved widespread commercial success in the mid 1990s. The sound broke into the mainstream in 1994 with the multiplatinum success of Green Day's Dookie and The Offspring's Smash. Other pop punk bands that have since achieved platinum success include: Blink-182, Sum 41, Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, Yellowcard and Fall Out Boy. Pop punk music can sometimes be indistinguishable from (and has sometimes been fused with) similar genres such as art rock, college rock, dance-punk, emo, frat rock, garage punk, indie pop, indie rock, mod revival, new wave, pop rock, post-punk, power pop, ska punk, skate punk, surf rock and twee pop. Some British pop punk acts have been lumped in with Britpop bands such as Elastica.

Alternate definition of pop punk

Additionally, pop punk is a retroactive description for some of the original punk bands of the late 1970s, such as the Ramones, who were influenced by bubblegum pop and popular rock music of the 1950s and 1960s. These bands became the primary influence on bands that were to later develop pop punk. The Ramones were never defined as pop punk during their active years, but are now described by some as pop punk. Other examples include, Buzzcocks, The Rezillos, The Jam, The Undertones, and The Shapes.

Alternate names for pop punk

The genre's early association with Southern California has led some to call it the SoCal sound. Another term, softcore or "easycore", denotes pop punk's difference from hardcore punk. From the mid-1990s onwards, bands associated with the genre have also been referred to derogatively as faux-punk, mall punk and pseudo-punk. The terms mall punk and Hot Topic punk point out the genre's connection to businesses like Hot Topic and other stores in shopping malls. Labeling someone a mall punk suggests they are associated with a mainstream corporate version of punk, and that they do not support traditional punk ideologies. Other terms that have been used to describe pop punk include punk-pop, nu-punk, hard pop, fun-punk, neo-punk, poseur-punk, wussy-punk, prep-punk and happy-punk.

History

Punk rock origins (1974-1980s)

Main article: Punk Rock

The pop punk style emerged at the onset of punk rock around 1975, with bands like the Ramones, however it was not considered a separate genre until later. The Ramones were fans of The Beatles, 1960s bubblegum pop and garage rock. In 1975, their loud and fast melodic minimalism differentiated them from other groups in New York City's budding art-rock scene. Additionally, protopunk bands along with power pop bands like Cheap Trick, The Knack, The Romantics, The Raspberries, Pezband, The Records and The Nerves helped lay the groundwork for pop punk.

By 1977 in the UK, punk had already become a much more active and concentrated movement than in New York City. The Undertones, Buzzcocks, The Jam and Generation X (featuring a young Billy Idol) featured catchy hooks and lyrics that sometimes dealt with teenage romantic issues. The Rezillos, The Boys, The Shapes and The Only Ones are other examples of early punk bands with pop inclinations. On the somewhat harder-edged side of pop-influenced punk, there were bands like; 999, The Vibrators, The Adicts, and The Lurkers. Many Mod Revival bands also displayed pop punk leanings, particularly The Chords and The Purple Hearts. The popularity of the Sex Pistols and The Clash, which had surpassed that of The Ramones, demonstrated that punk rock bands could write hit songs.

By 1981, the original punk movement was largely supplanted by hardcore punk, with louder, faster music and more politically motivated lyrics. Vocal harmony, melodic instrumentation and 4/4 drumming was replaced with screaming, discordant instrumentation, and experimental rhythms. A few bands began to combine hardcore with pop music to create a new, faster "pop punk" sound. The Descendents, The Vandals, NOFX, Hüsker Dü, Bad Religion and The Replacements exemplify this shift. In California, the Surf Punks emerged, a fairly mellow group sometimes called "The Beach Boys of punk.

Formation (early 1980s-1993)

Writers have used "pop punk" to describe bands playing rudimentary punk rock and hardcore punk fused with pop for some years. An early occurrence appears in a 1977 New York Times article, "Cabaret: Tom Petty's Pop Punk Rock Evokes Sounds of 60's". The term "pop punk" was originally used by the punk community in the 1980s, in publications such as Maximum RocknRoll, to describe bands similar to Social Distortion and TSOL.

Early in the 1980s, bands such as; Descendents (possibly the first pop punk band), The Vandals, The Dickies, Hard-Ons, Fastbacks, The Queers, and Shonen Knife, diverged from hardcore and sought a middle ground between the sound of the original punks and the brutality of hardcore. Their positive, yet sarcastic approach began to separate them from the more serious hardcore scene. This continued through the middle to late 1980s with the formation of new bands like: ALL, Crimpshrine, The Doughboys, Sweet Baby, The Mr. T Experience, Screeching Weasel, and Jawbreaker.

The music remained in relative obscurity until 1991, when Nirvana released the album Nevermind. This album helped define grunge music, popularized alternative rock, and set the stage for pop punk's mainstream acceptance.

Popular acceptance (1994-1997)

In February 1994, Green Day released the pop punk album Dookie, the band's first on a major label. The first single, Longview, instantly became a hit on MTV and modern rock stations across America. Following the success of their first single, Green Day released Basket Case, which became an even bigger hit and made the band a household name across the world. Other hits were released from the album, including the extremely popular When I Come Around, Welcome To Paradise, and She. Dookie sold 10 million copies in the US, 15 million copies worldwide. Green Day gained enough popularity that year to be performers at Woodstock '94, where the band and spectators engaged in a friendly mudfight that is now considered legendary. The band appeared on Saturday Night Live, the covers of Spin and Rolling Stone, and won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.

Shortly after the release of Dookie, the hardcore-influenced pop punk band The Offspring released Smash on Epitaph. The first single Come Out and Play, with a pop sound that differed radically from any of their earlier work, became popular first on radio and then on MTV. Other singles Self Esteem and Gotta Get Away sold well. The album sold over 10 million copies worldwide, setting a record for most albums sold on an independent label.

While the popularity of Dookie and Smash swelled, attention spilled over to similar bands such as Rancid, NOFX, Bad Religion, MxPx, Pennywise, Jawbreaker, Smoking Popes and Lagwagon. Of these, Rancid received the most attention with the two hits, "Ruby Soho" and "Time Bomb", from their album ...And Out Come The Wolves, which eventually went platinum. However, other punk and pop punk bands saw growing sales and increased interest surrounding their music. Pop punk's sarcastic "brattiness" provided an effective contrast to the moody, nihilism offered by many grunge, hardcore and earlier punk rock bands. By the end of the year, Dookie and Smash had sold millions of copies, and pop punk had become a prominent musical style.

During this surge in interest, some bands became associated with the pop punk genre even though they didn't consider themselves part of it. Weezer, a California power pop band, played a raw, power chord-driven, melodic pop sound that was similar to that of pop punk. Their Blue Album (1994) and hit single Buddy Holly influenced many future pop punk bands. Seattle trio Presidents of The United States of America had two hit songs in 1995, Lump and Peaches. Their sound combined grungy guitars with upbeat pop melodies and fun lyrics, creating sound similar to pop-punk. Northern Ireland rockers Ash's hit song Kung Fu's bouncy, fun, simple power chord-driven sound was more energetic and punk-inspired than fellow Britpop bands such as Oasis and Blur.

In the mid 1990s, a ska punk revival was taking place, led by bands such as Sublime, and even Rancid (who included ex-members of the ska punk band Operation Ivy in their lineup). Ska punk shares many characteristic of pop punk such as its upbeat sound and distance from grunge and hardcore. Some ska punk bands borrowed less from pop punk, while others such as Goldfinger and Less Than Jake can be considered pop punk.

By 1997, pop punk's audience had expanded significantly. Green Day's song Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), from their album nimrod., brought pop punk to new levels of acceptance. Not a traditional pop punk song, it featured Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong playing acoustic guitar and singing heartfelt lyrics, backed by violins. The lyrically anti-social song was used in the final episode of Seinfeld in 1998, exposing Green Day's music to an even wider audience, and setting the stage for pop-punk's continued success in the mainstream.

Continued mainstream ascent (1998-2003)

In 1998, The Offspring released the album, Americana. This period of The Offspring's career is generally seen as their mainstream peak, but it is also frowned upon by many as the point where they "sold out". Perhaps to counter this image, the band released their next album Conspiracy of One (2000) on Napster before they released it on Columbia Records, sacrificing album sales so their fans could enjoy their music for free. Americana went platinum many times over, and produced hit singles and videos such as; "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)", "Why Don't You Get A Job?", and "The Kids Aren't Alright".

In 1999, trio Blink-182 released Enema of the State, which sold over 11 million copies worldwide. The album had three hit singles, including the #1 Single "All The Small Things" and the #2 singles "What's My Age Again?", and "Adam's Song". Like Green Day five years before them, Blink-182 inspired teens to jam out catchy, fun, three-chord pop punk tunes. In 2001, their album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket was released and debuted at #1 on the Billboard album charts. The album produced the modern rock and TRL hits "The Rock Show", "First Date", and "Stay Together For The Kids". In 2002, Blink-182 co-headlined one of the biggest tours in pop-punk history: the hugely successful Pop Disaster Tour with Green Day.

In 2001, Canadian pop punksters Sum 41 released All Killer No Filler. It was a huge success on radio and MTV, with hit singles such as "Fat Lip" and "In Too Deep". Sum 41 were often viewed during this years as the counterparts to Blink-182. In 2002 Sum 41 released their pop-punk/metal hybrid album, Does This Look Infected? with hits such as "The Hell Song", "Over My Head (Better Off Dead)" and "Still Waiting". New Found Glory released their breakthrough album Sticks and Stones in 2002, which include the MTV and modern rock hits "My Friends Over You" and "Head On Collision".

Good Charlotte released the album The Young and the Hopeless, which went 3x platinum in the United States, (becoming the biggest pop-punk album since blink's Enema of The State) thanks to singles such as "Lifestyles of The Rich & Famous", "The Anthem", "Girls & Boys", and "Hold On". Simple Plan, another Canadian pop punk band, had success on the charts and MTV in 2002 with the album No Pads, No Helmets... Just Balls. It featured the hits "I'd Do Anything" (featuring Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 and +44), "Addicted", and "Perfect".

The All-American Rejects released their self-titled album and scored a hit with "Swing, Swing" in 2003. Bowling for Soup, the first pop punk band to be signed to majors Jive achieved success with the song "Girl All The Bad Guys Want", which earned the group a grammy nomination for best performance by duo or group. the band later had success with "1985" and "Almost". In 2002, Canadian rock singer Avril Lavigne was originally marketed as a skater punk/rebel, even though she played pop-rock and rock songs specifically with her hit song and video "Sk8er Boi". Lavigne later shed her "punk" image.

In Britain, a different type of pop punk which combined pop punk with the image and vocal harmonies of boy bands, creating a " sugar-coated" and radio-friendly sound than US pop punk bands. Busted, a trio of teenagers who were influenced by Blink-182 and Michael Jackson had hits such as "What I Go To School For", "Year 3000", "You Said No", "Crashed The Wedding", and "Thunderbirds Are Go". They never broke into the US market, despite having an MTV2 reality show based on their attempts at "breaking" America. UK's McFly also fused elements of surf music into their sound, but did not manage to break into the US, despite appearing in the movie Just My Luck and playing on the soundtrack.

Other notable bands from the 1998-2003 era of pop punk include: Box Car Racer, American Hi-Fi, SR-71, Eve 6, The Ataris, Unwritten Law, Sugarcult, Mest, Gob, Alkaline Trio, Fenix*TX, The Starting Line, Rufio, Saves the Day, Something Corporate, and Riddlin' Kids.

Contemporary pop punk (2003 and later)

In 2003, Blink-182 released their Untitled record, with more emotional lyrics charged with teenage angst and experimental musical styles. The album produced two huge hits, "Feeling This" and "I Miss You", along with 2 other minor hits, "Down" and "Always." The band went on hiatus in 2005, with Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker going on to found the pop punk/electro rock band +44, and Tom Delonge starting the alternative rock band Angels and Airwaves. Other pop punk bands also started playing a more emotional style of music, sometimes described as "emo". Florida pop punk band Yellowcard had success in 2003 with the album Ocean Avenue and the hit singles "Ocean Avenue" and "Only One." New Found Glory released Catalyst in 2004, which included the hit, "All Downhill from Here." The album expanded on the band's hardcore punk influences on some songs, and on others, added synthesizers and keyboards. Good Charlotte released their album The Chronicles of Life & Death in 2004. The album was not nearly as successful as their previous effort, but it did produce the hit singles Predictable and I Just Wanna Live.

On October 2004, Sum 41 released the album Chuck, which mixed the pop punk style with many other genres, including thrash metal and alternative rock. The album also featured more slow-paced music and hardcore influences. Their first single, "We're All To Blame," was critically-acclaimed and reached #10 on the Billboard Modern Rock charts. The hit single "Pieces" topped the charts in Canada. 2004 also marked the release of Green Day's politically driven punk rock opera album American Idiot. Green Day was back on top of the charts, and were exposed to a new generation of fans. The singles "American Idiot," "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "Holiday," and "Wake Me Up When September Ends" received national airplay and MTV rotation. Known for their piano pop and screamo reflected pop punk, Christian rockers Relient K scored a mainstream breakthrough in 2005 with the album Mmhmm, and its singles "Be My Escape" and "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been."

In November 2005, ex-member of British pop band Busted, James Bourne returned with a new band called Son Of Dork. The band is said by a lot to be the future of British pop punk and an answer to the American punk-pop explosion. Contemporary pop punk music often has more poetic lyrics, as well as vocal and musical styles borrowed from the post-hardcore genre. The most popular example of this is Chicago-based pop punk band Fall Out Boy released From Under The Cork Tree (certified 3x platinum) and its singles "Sugar, We're Going Down" and "Dance Dance." Fall Out Boy's bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz, emerged as an outspoken political activist in the pop punk scene. His record label, Decaydance, which has signed a variety of artists, includes forerunners of pop punk. The All-American Rejects achieved even greater success than they did with their previous album, with Move Along, and its hit singles "Dirty Little Secret" and "Move Along." They also took home Best Group Video and performed at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. In 2007, Fall Out Boy released the album Infinity on High. Similar to previous groups they have turned away from relying on the satirical, and have moved towards the metaphorical and psychoanalytical. Avril Lavigne now released her new album The Best Damn Thing with gutsy guitar riffs, instantaneously catchy sing-along party-starting choruses, power pop punk, and rebellious rock ’n’ roll attitude [3]

In the mid 2000s, several bands have begun mixing pop punk with other musical genres, such as emo and post-hardcore. This is demonstrated by bands such as: +44, The Academy Is..., All Time Low, Cartel, Cute Is What We Aim For, The Early November, Hit The Lights, The Matches, Motion City Soundtrack, Paramore, The Pink Spiders, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Hawk Nelson, and Stellar Kart.

Independent pop punk

Some pop punk artists have rejected mainstream record labels in favor of running their own labels or releasing albums on small independent labels. Independent record labels that have specialized in pop punk artists include Lookout! Records, Redscare Records, and Mutant Pop. The term buzzpop has sometimes been used to describe this non-commercial vein of pop punk. Bands in this genre include: The Mr. T Experience, The Movielife, The Briefs, The Huntingtons, Bankrupt, Chixdiggit!, Dillinger Four, F.Y.P, Groovie Ghoulies, The Lillingtons, The Methadones, Parasites, Pinhead Gunpowder, The Queers, The Riverdales, Scared of Chaka, Screeching Weasel, Darlington, Sloppy Seconds, Squirtgun, Teenage Bottlerocket, The Unlovables, The Vindictives, and Treephort. Many of these bands, such as The Queers and The Lillingtons, have been musically influenced by The Ramones' short, rock'n'roll anthems. Others bands, such as F.Y.P and Screeching Weasel, have been influenced by the Ramones' lyrical themes, such as boredom, dissatisfaction and growing older.

See also

• List of pop punk bands
• Pop rock

External links

• Buzzpop.org - news blog on everything buzzpop/pop punk/punk rock/hardcore and pop culture
• The Mod Pop Punk Archives - includes information about early pop punk bands
• Poppunk.com - news and information about contemporary 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