Defend Pop Punk

You may not know this about me, but one of my favourite things in the world is pop punk. I’ve loved the genre since I first discovered it in my early teenage years during a fateful sick day from school.

It was the year 2000, and blink-182 played their new hit single, All The Small Things, on a show called Top Of The Pops, warping my fragile little mind forevermore.

Now, give me a second to catch my breath here, kids. I’m not as young as I used to be, after all.

*sits down on a rock, leans on cane, and adjusts half-moon spectacles*

Pop punk—as well as its older brother, punk rock—and the attitude associated with these genres fuelled the majority of my listening during my teenage years, moulding me and my creative exploits in the process.

But it's the lessons—both positive and negative—learned from the genre and its pioneers that I wanted to reflect on and explore, especially in how they helped to shape me as a person and, eventually, influence my writing and creative process.

Pop Punk 101

It’s not a particularly profound revelation for a person to say they take ‘inspiration’ from music. Whether it’s indie, hardcore, hip hop, folk or whatever, people tend to wear their musical influences openly. Believe me, being the pop punk kid at University surrounded by indie rock kids wasn’t easy.

Thankfully, the need to define yourself by subjective musical taste is a phase I am long past. Don’t kid yourself, you most likely did it too, and if you don’t think you did, you probably still do.

(Pssst, sidebar: Being a gatekeeper of anything—music, pro wrestling, comic books, video games, whatever—doesn’t make you a super fan, full of superior knowledge on the subject. It makes you an obtuse, unaware asshole.)

But what was it about that sugary, bouncy goodness my young mind found so appealing?

Once upon a time, it would have been relatively straight forward: girl troubles, liking girls, wanting to ask girls out, and subsequently getting rejected by and/or breaking up with girls.

It was a simpler time.

The attitude that purveyed these songs, with lyrics about heartbreak and longing, was almost always upbeat. You could jump to these songs, and the music would leave you with a smile on your face while you were singing lyrics about loss or rejection.

These bands left their hometown to travel the world, singing about girls, hanging out with their friends, and playing music to people who cared about what they had to say.

It was an infectious, heady combination that I, like so many, was in awe of. The status quo teaches us that…well…people aren’t meant to do that. You’re meant to get a ‘safe’ job and never (punk) rock the boat.

But that more rebellious, counter-conformist streak—the punk that offset the pop, if you will—was also present.

That anti-authority attitude of misspent youth, the idea of not being understood were relatable themes prevalent in the majority of songs from pop punk's founding fathers.

These were the ideals that resonated. They still do. These are core traits embedded within me, even if, at times, they have characteristics that have been to my detriment.

For a kid who had only recently immigrated to London, discovering pop punk was, without hyperbole, a defining moment in my life.

For the first time, I knew what I liked to listen to and connected to music in a way I never had before. It’s reaffirming to know that, as I have grown, so too has the genre.

Some bands even felt as if they were growing parallel to me and my experiences—especially as it pertains to mental health issues, depression, and anxiety. The Wonder Years have helped me keep my head above water more times than I can count.

No longer is pop punk exclusively about partying, girls, and breakups. There’s a recognised depth to the genre now that was always simmering just underneath the bubblegum appeal.

Core tenements of pop punk—being true to yourself, questioning the established status quo gleaned with an anti-conformist edge, growing as a person, etc., helped me to discover not only who I am, but the kind of creative I want to be.

Punk Chic

Some represent their love for pop punk in what they wear, the tattoos they have, or the hairstyle they sport. I’ll always have a fondness for Dickies long shorts, but I have no ink on me (not even a single pop punk star tattoo) and have been shaving my head for years now.

But it’s not the ‘look’ that defines the fandom, it’s the attitude. Punk isn’t an aesthetic. Loving pizza isn't an identity. It’s a mindset that sees a person question the supposed status quo in an effort to find what they believe so they can stick by it.

As the great Mark Hoppus of blink-182 fame once ruminated on the subject:

“I never thought of punk rock as the absolute act of rebellion for the sake of rebellion. There's a lot of that in there, but for me I think punk rock was always about questioning things and making decisions for yourself.”

Writing, creating, connecting and, ultimately, sharing these stories are goals I can thread back to the lessons learned from my pop punk heroes and the examples they set.

Question your ‘normal,' determine what you want, and fucking go for it.

It’s about choosing the life you want and persevering with it regardless of the difficult path it may invariably take you on, because you just can’t stand the idea of selling out for the alternative.

Pop Punk Suggestions

If you’re interested in listening to some pop punk but have never really explored the genre before, here is a short list of some of the bands you might want to check out:

blink-182