“The whole spectrum of human experience, all that longing and self-doubt, is perfectly sketched out in those formative years,” The New Yorker‘s Amanda Petrusich wrote in 2016 of the potency of adolescent emotion, while reflecting on Blink-182’s comeback. And fans returning to these classic albums 10, 15, 20 years on can feel like maybe they never did – a state of “What’s My Age Again?” bliss. The early music of standout acts like Blink-182, Simple Plan, Sum-41 and, yes, even Green Day, was always about arrested development, a stubborn desire to never grow up. It is the OC, the One Tree Hill, the teen soap opera of contemporary rock.

It’s inherently bratty, angsty-ridden, self-deprecating and generationally divisive. It’s also tender and romantic, thriving on nostalgic, swooning scenes of first loves, life-changing kisses and tragic heartbreaks. As New Wave and college rock, followed by ska, rap, emo and even boy-band aesthetics have made their way into the mix, one feature has remained constant: Pop-punk is for the teens – or at least the young at heart. Over the years, what we now know as pop-punk has transformed rapidly, evolving with the times and the trends. And punk’s focus on speed, concision and three-chord simplicity is a natural fit with pop’s core values.

From hooky Seventies aces (The Buzzcocks, The Undertones) to Eighties hardcore heroes (Misfits, Descendents), Nineties hitmakers (Green Day, Blink-182) and beyond, punk bands have always championed great songwriting alongside their anti-authoritarian stance. Either you’re punk, or you’re not.”īut in one way or another, that contradiction – the idea of a staunchly underground art form with serious mainstream appeal – has been there all along. “I’ve always hated the phrase,” he explained later in Kerrang! “I think it’s a contradiction in terms. In a 2016 tweet, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong declared war on pop-punk.

The misfits discography rar