Just at the beginning of the ’00s, the grunge movement has started to lose all its vigor and become fairly old. They have been down in the dumps for quite a long time now and suddenly the collective mindset sits around and decided to stop moping about their problems in songs. Things have changed over the years and the time is right to get back on track with a spree of fun-loving attitude that has made the rock songs so awesome, to begin with.
Everything was pretty much punk as hell with bratty and obnoxious moves. Pop-punk was quite a rage and was making a name for themselves way back in the 70s. It was before the era when TRL bands were rocking like anything.
Bands have been writing great pop tunes before the inception of the punk genre in its entirety.
This was not a user-friendly image and it was quite impossible to create those tunes out of the brain once it is heard.
Several bands are on the rise trying hard to turn the genre on its head. Let us just have a look at the all-time greatest pop-punk bands.
Green Day
The resurgence of the pop-punk genre started at the turn of this century although it cannot be pinpointed when it came into existence. Ramones flirted with pop song concepts way back in the 70s. But the band Green Day encapsulated everything great about the pop-punk genre. They started in the underground music scene of California and took the sense of melody into the great music of the punk world. ‘Dookie’ was an album that aptly defined the genre. The tracks have straightforward power chords and get disillusioned by the lifestyle of teenagers. Green Day transforms this genre on each record at their will. They have proved this fact with their popular albums like ‘American Idiot’. They have come across every stumbling block to shape pop-punk and made it what it is since 1994.
Blink-182
Blink-182 was instrumental in taking the legacy of pop-punk forward and ushered the special genre into the new millennium. The first few records by Blink have mainly skated standard punk affairs. The template was set with ‘Enema of the State’ as it arrived by taking the sound of pop-punk forward. The sound of records was a trade-off between Tom Delonge and Mark Hoppus and made a new style of punk rock with ‘Take Off Your Pants and Jacket’. The songs became very palatable for the ongoing mainstream scenario and tracks like ‘All the Small Things’ and ‘First Date’ are played in the middle school. Mind-blowing works like California established their sense of maturity and it has proved that the genre can move out of its confines and are not limited to the kid crowd of the suburban.
Ramones
Ramones earned a lot of popularity in punk history and was the first band ever to have started the genre arguably. They unleashed mayhem in the late 70s as they dished out pop-friendly stuff with consummate ease. The immediate hook of every song by the Ramones had an essence of pop-punk with an aggressive guitar. Ramones had the feel of the 60s as they etched out traditional pop songs of that era.
Paramore
Some aggro records were created by Paramore at the beginning as the sounds created by them are pop-friendly. ‘After Laughter’ was a popular album by them as some solid instrumentation backed the tracks. The second wave of pop-punk is created by their earlier works as they etched out an amazing range with their fascinating tunes. The mix of raw vocals and the softness of pop have created great moments in the pop-punk genre.
PUP
There has been an inside and out change in the pop-punk genre after 2010. The biggest frontrunner at that time was PUP. They unleashed with their full-on punk with outfits having a darker tinge. In albums like ‘Morbid Stuff,’ they are very dark than usual and one can enjoy the best grooves in the records by PUP. They have bent rules in pop-punk to an extent and share the great lineage of Yellowcard and Jimmy Eat World in their song’s DNA.
Panic at the Disco
The oddball outfits arrived in the pop-punk scene with Panic at the Disco. They have thick make-up that can give the rock frontman a run for their money. Their maiden performance was pseudo-theatrical and has got a tinge of folk-rock. These days a polished sound is etched out by Panic and has great tunes to back it. ‘Fever You Can’t Sweat Out’ was one of their best performances.
Buzzcocks
The music by the pop-punk band shaped the look of the genre. The hooks of the tracks like ‘What Do I Get?’ are driven by guitar and they dealt with slyly subject matters. The track ‘Orgasm Addict’ was very catchy and the tune was marvelous. The bulletproof melody and the aggressive guitar in the tracks are brilliant with sugary sweet tunes.
The Offspring
The Offspring started to make a wave in the California skate punk scene in their early days. They are signed to major punk labels called ‘Epitaph Records’ and played at 924 Gilman Street that was a major punk venue. They broke records with ‘Smash’ and it was one of the highest sellers and the songwriting was done by Dexter Holland. It was very popular on MTV and gave other hits like ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’.
Sum 41
Sum 41 rolled with the changes and etched out suburban music in the pop-punk genre. The edgy pop sounds are played in the middle school halls and their first few records garnered a lot of popularity. ‘Motivation’ and ‘Fat Lip’ set the bars high in the pop-punk genre and the kids went crazy with it. These 4 Canadian brats made the most of metal riffs in their album called ‘Chuck’ and they offered many such albums down the years.
Alkaline Trio
The crazy dark lyrical background in the songs by Trio was amazing. They came up with brilliant albums like ‘Crimson’ and ‘Good Mourning’ that have got a spooky tinge. Most of the tracks belong to the spectrum of hard rock but they never managed to reach massive heights. The goth-punk brand etched out by them had its place in the genre.