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New generation of pop punk


Champ182

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I thought this could be an interesting discussion in the Blink section while there isn't much going on with the band. Travis has been playing with Machine Gun Kelly, including the other day at the VMAs, and one Blink-182onliner said he's the pop punk savior who's bringing pop punk back, someone else said he's certainly trying to bring pop punk back and doing better than anyone else at the moment, etc. Just curious on peoples' thoughts on the new generation of pop punk and what it means to "bring it back."

First thing I think of is like 5ish years ago when bands were making shirts and stuff that said "pop punk is not dead" and "defend pop punk," that was kinda the first time I remember modern bands actively owning the phrase and proudly calling themselves pop punk as some kind of revival genre. I know Man Overboard was one of those bands, I think New Found Glory got in on that too at the time? And a lot of the bands that Blink would bring on tour like A Day To Remember and Neck Deep. So a lot of bands who were making music that was slickly produced and super inspired especially by early-to-mid 2000s emo/pop/punk or screamo. That's bringing one form of pop punk back in a way, by encouraging people to embrace the genre and having a sense of a living pop punk scene.

None of those guys quite got the platform that Machine Gun Kelly has somehow gotten, and he's definitely influenced by that same super slick early-to-mid 2000s emo/pop punk but adds his own modern pop/hip hop style to it. He's bringing his version of pop punk to the masses by being featured on MTV and playing with Travis, which is one way of "bringing pop punk back" as well. I hope people who are fans of his end up checking out Blink since he's playing with Travis and he could be like an early gateway for people I suppose.

What do you all think? Is pop punk a genre worth "defending" or "bringing back?" Are these new generation of artists doing a good job at it? Do they sound like what pop punk means to you at all? Post examples of bands you like who you think are representing the genre well! I'll add my opinions in a separate post so this doesn't get too cluttered.

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Personally, pop punk to me is bands like Queers, SW, TBR, Lillington, Copyrights, Steinway, House Boat, MTX ... I consider bands like Blink, post-enema, or the bands they influenced to be pop. That goes especially for Machine Gun Kelly, I just can't get behind what he's doing being pop punk as that style isn't what I classify as pop punk. Now, that's not to say I hate it or its bad music anything, I just see it as regular old pop.

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I don't think he's poppunk, or good, but I think he's infusing more guitar influence into pop again which has been sorely lacking. 

I'm not a fan of his style and it's not a genre I'd follow but I can see how some younger people may end up using him as a gateway drug into more legit pop punk. 

We'll see. 

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Just now, Speedo said:

Personally, pop punk to me is bands like Queers, SW, TBR, Lillington, Copyrights, Steinway, House Boat, MTX ... I consider bands like Blink, post-enema, or the bands they influenced to be pop. That goes especially for Machine Gun Kelly, I just can't get behind what he's doing being pop punk as that style isn't what I classify as pop punk. Now, that's not to say I hate it or anything, I just see it as regular old pop.

Yeah, i'm in the same kinda boat as you except I do consider bands like blink, Alkaline Trio, Green Day, Good Charlotte (first 2-3 albums), Yellowcard, NFG and Sum 41 (especially first 4 albums) pop punk. It's the bands from the middle 2000's and onwards that I don't consider pop punk. Bands like FOB, Panic, ATL, Neck Deep and the rest. I do think the Wonder Years are pop punk outside of their last two albums. Maybe pop punk evolved but I just don't like the pop punk from the middle of 2000's and onwards.

When blink first came up with Enema, I get they were criticised and basically were considered a pop band almost. I have that exact same opinion of of FOB etc. They just don't have anywhere near an aggressive sound as blink in my opinion. I think songs like Feeling This & Not Now are great examples of pop punk and although those songs are unique as hell, the modern pop punk bands haven't even come close to that kind of sound. Machine Gun Kelly has elements of pop punk but I find it hard to differentiate it from the likes of FOB and ATL.

Everyone has different ideas of what pop punk is though. I feel like Cheshire Cat & Dude Ranch aren't pop punk (outside of Dammit). They're skate punk to me. But to someone like Davey Jones, those albums are probably pop punk. But all these modern bands just don't have that California skater's vibe about their music that I like in the middle 90's to early 2000's bands.

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7 hours ago, Nosferatu said:

They're skate punk to me. But to someone like Davey Jones, those albums are probably pop punk. But all these modern bands just don't have that California skater's vibe about their music that I like in the middle 90's to early 2000's bands.

it's all about relative positioning. relative to good charlotte, is bad religion a "pop" punk band? no. they are melodic hardcore. but relative to a punk band with very little pop sensibility, say FEAR or black flag or crass, bad religion is totally a "pop" punk band. all relative.

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Absolutely. I remember a few years back....maybe '12? I would get drunk and start babbling on about how much I love pop-punk, which i would have been "too cool" to admit during high school or college (2000-2009). I am all about embracing it, because it really defined a generation, and kicks total fucking ass. That's why I've always stuck with NFG, to name one. They have always stayed true to the genre. Everything they've ever put out stays true to what I believe pop-punk really is. Even their latest release could be confused with something straight outta 2002. When I go (more accurately-went) to double billed shows like TBS with The Used in recent years, you could just feel that everyone in the venue wanted it, and missed it. The scene (no, the THE scene) still stays true and is very alive after a brief hiatus, and I couldn't be happier.

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8 hours ago, Kay said:

 

I don't think he's poppunk, or good, but I think he's infusing more guitar influence into pop again which has been sorely lacking.

 

This. It’s not pop punk. It’s just pop with some guitar. I don’t mind it though. Decent songs. 

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MGK is the equivalent of the kind of 2000s pop punk that didn't even feel real, even though that was part of the appeal - it just felt catchy and unjaded, where you could just have a good time listening to it and the worst thing you'd ever have to deal with was a bad breakup, but it didn't age well.

Pop punk felt way more in touch with the real world between 2010 and 2014, many songs were about struggles to make rent, to find your identity, to beat mental demons, to survive. I don't know what you can consider pop punk in 2020 because I've noticed that the bands I like have transcended the 'depressed high school kid' scene (probably because they have some actual talent) while the dudes who can play 4 chords in an order the producer tells them can't move past the 'that band was just a phase' thing.

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9 minutes ago, Elisa said:

MGK is the equivalent of the kind of 2000s pop punk that didn't even feel real, even though that was part of the appeal - it just felt catchy and unjaded, where you could just have a good time listening to it and the worst thing you'd ever have to deal with was a bad breakup, but it didn't age well.

I think that's exactly what a lot of people think of when they think of pop punk. Myself included for the most part. Though I know the genre is much broader than that and I love a lot more than just that specific subsection of pop punk, the first thing I usually think of when I hear "pop punk" is late 90s to early 2000s music similar to blink-182.

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So much genre defining in this thread, yuccckkkkkkkkkkkkkk - worst kind of music fans.

Good music = good music, why we always gotta put it in a box? sure most music has a genre you can label it too but when you see people nit picking and trying to place everything in certain sub genres it makes me want to rip their heads off and shit down their throat.

I like the MGK stuff. 

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