The Pop Punk Revolution is a Dumpster Fire
By Cade Pinkerson (they/he)
The so-called rebirth of a decade-specific genre says a lot about the repetition in culture as well as the societal need for certain aspects of pop culture to make comebacks. For better or worse things get revived all the time, that is after all how we get trends and the resurgences of trends. Now let me make it clear: I am in no way here to diss mainstream music or the desire to revive something old, as that is what modern music, fashion, and media are based on. In its simplest form, the problem with what’s being called the pop-punk “revolution” is that it repeats mistakes from the past. When I say “Pop Punk” I am referring to a genre within a genre. Pop-punk is an offshoot of punk, and punk is an offshoot of rock.
This original wave of music had been emerging for a while but didn’t gain mainstream traction as a recognized genre until the late 90s to early 2000s, with bands like Green Day, Sum41, Jimmy Eat World, and The All American Rejects. Pop-punk existed to fill a void left by the "classic punk'' of the 70s and 80s. For those who wanted all the angst and anarchy but just weren’t quite ready for all that came with it, pop-punk offered essentially a watered-down alternative for both guys in their 20s and girls as young as 12.
But like everything in life, there were problems. The original genre existed in a less politically correct time so the first wave of pop-punk was extremely linear in terms of diversity. Granted there did exist pop-punk bands of color or with members that were, but those weren’t the bands that gained the media and pop culture recognition; mostly all-white male bands did. Our modern revolution has done a bit better in this area with bands like Meet Me @ the altar and artists like Willow Smith, although the majority being given primary spotlight are white or at least white-passing i.e. MGK, Travis Barker, Olivia Rodrigo, etc.
The original genre reeked of miseducation and lack of respect for those who came before, and the current revival not only makes the exact same mistake but throws everybody’s favorite moneymaker, capitalism, into the mix. The original consumers of old-school Pop Punk would be listening to Green Day or The Offspring not understanding that Billie Joe Armstrong was channeling Van Halen or The Offspring, in turn channeling The Misfits. The concept of “your favorite band’s favorite band” (trademark The Sparks Brothers documentary) was never really explored by teenagers just beginning to get into music. Our current revolution follows this pattern as well with the added influx of the internet’s misinformative tendencies. The chain of influence and information is even longer now, and there is a disregard for influences or education. Nobody cares who influenced people like Yungblud, even when it's literally on their $200 Urban Outfitters T-shirts.
Punk, or just alternative music/media, often circulates back into the public’s fixation every 5-10 years or so. Specifically, when talking about Punk and (its equally popular cousins like Pop Punk, Riot Grrrl, and Grunge) it appears to get watered down each time it comes back. This directly relates to the rise of the internet and social media, and punk as fashion. The fact that it's now more socially acceptable to have pink hair and platforms due to trends like the E-girl, brands like Dolls Kill, and shows like Euphoria is great, but it also diminishes value in music genres rooted in rebellion and political revolution. There's a certain energy that comes with involvement in things like secret shows, DIY clothes, and zines. The burning desire for knowledge fuels it all and removing that harms the vitality of the subculture as a whole.
I'm not even gonna start on how a large portion of the new “pop-punk” isn’t really pop-punk. Most of these bands/artists are really just making alternative pop. They think adding a few electric guitar chords into the mix for some edge allows you to call it punk. Not to mention the fact that some artists only shift to the genre for publicity, or hell even because they got scared out of their respective original genre (I’m looking at you Machine Gun Kelly).
All of this is to say that things have changed and not for the better. Is this rant of an article really necessary? Probably not, but it's important to me as the writer and I think it opens up much more important conversations about the shift in pop culture in recent years and its overall effect on the music industry. This concept of a poorly revived genre is really a small piece in a much larger commentary about the state of music right now that I will surely be expanding on in future articles. For now, I hope this hodgepodge of information and critique at least gives you a reason and a reminder to care a little bit more about the culture behind the music you listen to.
