Pop-punk

Pop punk
Stylistic origins	Punk rock Powerpop New wave Pop Rock
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)
Other topics
List of pop punk bands- New Wave music - Post-punk - Skate punk - Ska punk - Alternative rock - Melodic hardcore

Pop punk (or punk pop) is a form of rock music. It is recognised as a fusion 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.

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; performed by bands such as the Ramones, Buzzcocks, The Jam, The Undertones, Generation X and Descendents. Bad Religion, who started in 1979, were another band that helped lay the groundwork for contemporary pop punk. In the mid-1990s, the Northern California-based pop punk band Green Day and as well as the Southern California-based pop punk bands Blink-182 and The Offspring, achieved worldwide commercial success. 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".

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 (1974-1980s)

Further information: [[:Punk rock]]

The pop punk style emerged at the onset of punk rock around 1974, with the Ramones; however, it was not considered a separate subgenre until later. The Ramones' loud and fast melodic minimalism differentiated them from other bands in New York City's budding art rock scene. Protopunk and power pop bands had also helped lay the groundwork for the pop punk sound. 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 60's. By 1977, punk rock had already become a much more active and concentrated movement in the United Kingdom than in New York City. Buzzcocks, Generation X, 999, The Jam, The Rezillos, The Lurkers, The Undertones, Toy Dolls, and The Shapes featured catchy melodies and lyrics that sometimes dealt with relatively light themes such as teenage romance. Many mod revival bands also displayed pop punk leanings. Also Pixies(band)

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 and The Vandals, began to combine hardcore with pop music to create a new, faster pop punk sound, sometimes referred to as popcore (or skatecore). Their positive yet sarcastic approach began to separate them from the more serious hardcore scene. The term pop punk was used in the 1980s, in publications such as Maximum RocknRoll, to describe bands similar to Social Distortion, Agent Orange, and TSOL.

Independent pop punk (early 1990s and later)

Guttermouth - live in concert

Pop punk in the United States underwent a resurgence in the early to mid 1990s. Though often regarded as the most mainstream of punk music styles, many pop punk bands retained a do it yourself (DIY) approach to their music. Pop punk at that time was not commercially viable. Both these factors contributed to the emergence of a number of independent record labels, often run by people in bands in order to release their own music and that of their friends. The independent labels Lookout! Records, Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph Records achieved commercial success after bands such as Green Day brought in a new audience for pop punk.

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. 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". Dookie sold 10 million copies in the United States and 20 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 pop punk, with bands such as Bad Religion being offered lucrative contracts to leave their independent record labels.

In the mid-1990s, a ska punk revival was taking place, led by bands such as Sublime. Some ska punk music, such as that recorded by Goldfinger and Less Than Jake, shared many characteristics of 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 mainstream acceptance. The song was used in one of the final episodes of Seinfeld in 1998, exposing Green Day's music to a wider audience.

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 #1 Single "All The Small Things" and the #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 #31 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the single "My Own Worst Enemy", which spent 11 weeks at #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. 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 featured prominently on TRL and modern rock charts. Also that year, Blink-182's album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket debuted at #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. 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 received a fair amount of mainstream success with singles such as "My Friends Over You" and "Head on Collision". Sum 41 released their third album, Does This Look Infected, in 2002, giving them a harder sound with singles "Still Waiting", "Over My Head (Better Off Dead)" and "The Hell Song".

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, which garnered the band several hits, such as "Feeling This", "Always", "Down" and "I Miss You". That same year, Yellowcard released the album Ocean Avenue and the hit singles "Ocean Avenue", "Way Away" and "Only One".

New Found Glory released Catalyst in 2004, which included the hit, "All Downhill from Here". Although some songs on the album expanded on the band's hardcore punk influences, other songs added synthesizers and keyboards. In October 2004, Sum 41 released the album Chuck, which mixed pop punk with several other genres, including thrash metal, alternative rock and hardcore. The album's first single, "We're All to Blame", reached #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.... The first single, "Welcome to My Life", reached #1 on the Canadian Singles Chart and the Spanish Singles Chart, as well as reaching #11 on the Top 40 Mainstream chart. 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. The album has sold over 15 million albums worldwide as of 2010.

In the latter half of the 2000s, Fall Out Boy's hits "Sugar, We're Goin Down", "Dance, Dance" and "Thnks fr th Mmrs" provided a breakthrough for the genre, allowing bands such as Paramore, All Time Low and You Me at Six to gain mainstream success. The use of electronics and synthesizers — by bands such as such as Cobra Starship, Good Charlotte and Simple Plan — became more common in the genre.

In 2005, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker of Blink-182 formed +44, and in 2006 the band released its first album, When Your Heart Stops Beating. 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 #1. In February 2009, Blink-182 reunited onstage for the first time since 2004, at the 51st Grammy Awards, announcing their reformation as a band.

See also

• List of pop punk bands
• Power pop
• Punk rock

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 Message Board - The Pop Punk Message Board