Pop-punk's mainstream popularity continued in the mid-to-late 2000s, with artists such asFall Out Boy,My Chemical Romance, andParamore achieving high levels of commercial success. By this point, pop-punk acts were largely indistinguishable from artists tagged as "emo", to the extent that emo crossover acts such as Fall Out Boy and Paramore popularized a pop-punk-influenced style dubbedemo pop. By the 2010s, pop-punk's mainstream popularity had waned, with rock bands and guitar-centric music becoming rare on dance-focused pop radio. During this period, however, a wave of underground artists defined a rawer and more emotional take on the genre, namelythe Story so Far,the Wonder Years andNeck Deep. In the early 2020s, a new crop of pop-punk music began experiencing mainstream resurgence with various new acts such asMachine Gun Kelly,KennyHoopla andYungblud.
Pop-punk is distinguished from other punk-variant genres by drawing more heavily from 1960s bands such asthe Beatles (pictured).
Pop-punk is variously described as apunk subgenre,[3][4] a variation of punk,[5][6][7] a form ofpop music,[8] and a genre antithetical to punk in a similar manner aspost-punk.[7] It has evolved stylistically throughout its history, absorbing elements fromnew wave,college rock,ska,rap,emo, andboy bands.[6] Some variations of pop-punk are noted for their faithfulness to traditional punk rock, employing a "raw, gritty, screamy, and not necessarily radio-friendly" sound. Other variants are more polished and suitable for mainstream radio.[9]
Writers atThe A.V. Club described pop-punk as a punk subgenre that has "essentially been around as long as punk itself" with roots in the "classic pop ofthe Beatles,the Kinks, andthe Beach Boys, often pitting sweet harmonies against bratty, rowdy riffs."[3] According to Ryan Cooper ofAbout.com, "pop-punk is a style that owes more to The Beatles and '60s pop than other sub-genres of punk".[4]
There is considerable overlap betweenpower pop and pop-punk, and the two styles are often conflated.[3] Web publicationRevolver acknowledged that, while pop-punk and power pop are often presented interchangeably, "the core concept is simple—melodic songs packaged with a punk slant."[10] In Brian Cogan'sThe Encyclopedia of Punk Music and Culture (2006) pop-punk is characterized as "a catchy, faster version of power pop."[11]AllMusic defines "punk-pop" as "apost-grunge strand ofalternative rock" that combines the textures and fast tempos of punk rock with the "melodies and chord changes" of power pop.[12] In the 1990s, there was overlap between pop-punk andskate punk.[13] Music journalistBen Myers wrote that the two terms were synonymous.[14]
Rock writerGreg Shaw, who wrote extensively about power pop and took credit for codifying the genre in the 1970s, originally defined power pop itself as a hybrid style of punk and pop.[15]Green Day frontmanBillie Joe Armstrong, who described power pop as "the greatest music on Earth that no one likes",[16] opined that the pop-punk term was anoxymoron: "You're either punk or you're not."[6] Writing inShake Some Action: The Ultimate Guide to Power Pop (2007), actorRobbie Rist felt that much of the genre merely consisted of pop bands who "add the 'punk' moniker so the kids will think they are pissing off their parents."[8]
Even during its formative phase in 1978, pop-punk wasn't simply a lighter, more palatable version of punk. It was just as rebellious, only it rebelled against punk itself: its nihilism, its bad-boy pose, its mockery of melody, it's belittling of sentimentality, and above all, its self-seriousness. In a way, pop punk became its own kind ofpost-punk...
Rolling Stone, in an article about pop-punk, wrote that the term was a retroactive label for punk bands who had "always championed great songwriting alongside their anti-authoritarian stance. And punk's focus on speed, concision and three-chord simplicity is a natural fit with pop's core values."[6]Vice's Jason Heller described "an open respect for the tradition and craft of pop songwriting" as a key characteristic of pop-punk.[7] Bill Lamb, also from About.com, writes that pop-punk is a variant of punk music that features "a hard and fast guitar and drums base but powered by pop melodies like much of '70s punk rock."[17]Alter the Press! defines pop-punk as "a genre that originates from mixing punk rock with pop sensibility".[5]
Lyrically, pop-punk often addresses adolescent themes of lust, romantic relationships, heartbreak, drugs,suburbia, and rebellion.[3][18] Some pop-punk lyrics make an emphasis on jokes and humor.[3]The New Yorker's Amanda Petrush summarized that the "rawness" of pop-punk "lies not in the music" but by conveying the "spectrum of human experience, all that longing and self-doubt."[6]
When bands like Green Day, The Offspring, NOFX and Rancid helped pop punk explode in 1994/1995, the mainstream called it a “punk revival” because it was the first time that punk had a real mainstream presence since the first-wave ’70s bands. But as many people knew then and even more people know now, the mid ’90s pop punk boom wasn’t a revival of anything; it was the culmination of a sound that had been bubbling on an underground level since the early 1980s. [...] When punk’s first wave started to die down and make way for the more digestible, mainstream-embraced sound of new wave, a new crop of bands took the loud, fast sounds of the Ramones and the Dead Boys in a more extreme direction: hardcore. Once hardcore bands realized they could combine the genre’s speed, intensity, and simplicity with bright, catchy melodies, pop punk was born.
Buzzcocks are considered one of the pioneers of pop-punk.[22]
Heller said that theRamones crafted a blueprint for pop-punk with their 1976 debut album, but 1978 was the year that the genre "came into its own".[7] He noted that some bands "were unmistakably pop punk bands by today's definition of the term, but in 1978, the distinction wasn't so clear. Plenty of punk groups of the era threw a token pop tune or two into their set—sometimes for ironic effect, other times earnestly."[7] Heller also acknowledged that many "burgeoning pop punk groups in 1978 bordered on power pop, a parallel genre on the rise at the time. But power pop began earlier, and it was a more American phenomenon".[7] Among the influential pop-punk bands of the late 1970s were theBuzzcocks.[23] AnLA Weekly writer later referred to the band's 1979 compilation albumSingles Going Steady as "the blueprint for punk rock bands preferring tuneful tales of lost love and longing to rage against the machine."[24] Cooper similarly cited the album as one of punk's most influential and added that Buzzcocks' "pop overtones [led] them to be a primary influence on today's pop punk bands.".[25] Heller referred tothe Undertones as "the most subversive band" of the genre during this period, particularly their 1978 single "Teenage Kicks", "one of the most striking and definitive pop punk classics."[7]
The Descendents are considered a prominent band of 1980s pop-punk.[22]
Bad Religion, formed in 1979, helped to lay the groundwork for the pop-punk style that emerged in the 1990s.[26] They and some of the other leading bands in Southern California'shardcore punk scene emphasized a more melodic approach than was typical of their peers. According to Myers, Bad Religion "layered their pissed off, politicized sound with the smoothest of harmonies". Myers added that another band, theDescendents, "wrote almost surfy, Beach Boys-inspired songs about girls and food and being young(ish)".[14] Their positive yet sarcastic approach began to separate them from the more serious hardcore scene. The Descendents' 1982 debut LPMilo Goes to College provided the template for the United States' take on the more melodic strains of first wave punk.[24] Many pop-punk bands, includingBlink-182, cite the Descendents as a major influence. Descendents paved the way for future pop-punk bands with themes of hating parents, struggling to find a romantic partner, and social alienation.Horror punk bandThe Misfits also influenced pop-punk with their 1982 albumWalk Among Us, which was a forerunner to later pop-punk music with the album's vocal harmonies and pop-inspired melodies. The Misfits'gothic image inspired later pop-punk bands likeAlkaline Trio andMy Chemical Romance.Marginal Man was aWashington D.C. hardcore punk band who mixed hardcore punk with melodic chord progressions and clean, melodic singing, being influenced by power pop,jangle pop andnew wave music.[27]
Underground expansion (late 1980s and early 1990s)
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, pop-punk bands such as Green Day,the Queers,The Mr. T Experience andScreeching Weasel emerged from the record labelLookout! Records with a sound indebted to Buzzcocks, the Ramones, and the Undertones.[28][29][7] In August 1992, early 1990s California punk rock and pop-punk was noticed by the magazineSpin when the magazine published a story called "California Screamin'", which is about the early 1990s underground punk rock scene in California, mentioning pop-punk bands like Screeching Weasel and Green Day.[30] Screeching Weasel's 1991 albumMy Brain Hurts influenced many subsequent pop-punk bands,[31] with bands likeBlink-182,Allister[32] andAlkaline Trio[33] citing them as an influence.[34]Social Distortion, known for playing genres like traditional punk andcowpunk, achieved moderate success starting in the early 1990s prior to the 1994 mainstream explosion of pop punk.[27] The band'sself-titled album (1990) andSomewhere Between Heaven and Hell (1992) both eventually were certified gold in the United States.[35][36]
In the wake ofNirvana andgrunge breaking through in the early 1990s, California's Green Day and Bad Religion were both signed to major labels in 1993, and by 1994, pop-punk was quickly growing in mainstream popularity, soon before grunge's popularity began to decline. Many punk rock and pop-punk bands originated from the California punk scene of the late 1980s, and several of those bands, especially Green Day andthe Offspring, helped revive interest in punk rock in the 1990s.[37] Green Day arose from the924 Gilman Street punk scene inBerkeley, California.[38] After building an underground following, the band signed toReprise Records and released their major-label debut album,Dookie, in 1994.Dookie sold four million copies by the year's end and spawned several radio singles that received extensive MTV rotation, three of which peaked at number one on theModern Rock Tracks chart.[39] Green Day's enormous commercial success paved the way for other North American pop-punk bands in the following decade.[40] In 1999,Dookie was certified diamond by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[41] The Offspring also achieved mainstream success in 1994 with their albumSmash being certified 6× platinum by the RIAA.[42]
MTV and radio stations such as Los Angeles'KROQ-FM played a major role in the genre's mainstream success.[43] TheWarped Tour, started in 1995, brought punk even further into the United States mainstream.[44] With punk rock's renewed visibility came concerns among some in thepunk subculture that the music was being co-opted by the mainstream.[43] Some punk rock fans criticized Green Day for "selling out" and rejected their music as too soft, pop-oriented and not legitimate punk rock.[39][45][46] They argued that by signing to major labels and appearing on MTV, bands like Green Day were buying into a system that punk was created to challenge.[47]
In 1997,Blink-182 released their breakthrough album,Dude Ranch, and the band performed at the Vans Warped Tour that year. "Dammit", the album's second single, received frequent airplay on modern rock stations, and the album was certifiedgold by 1998.[48] By 1999, Blink achieved further mainstream success withEnema of the State. In the description of journalist Matt Crane, the record initiated "a new wave of pop punk". He added, "At any given time in the late '90s/early 2000s, it was not uncommon to see Blink-182 andSum 41 on MTV. You couldn't escape it. Pop punk wasin, and it became the undisputed mainstream choice."[22] Lamb described second-wave pop-punk bands, led by Blink-182, as having "a radio friendly sheen to their music, but still maintaining much of the speed and attitude of classic punk rock".[17]Enema of the State was certified 5× platinum by the RIAA[49] and its song "All the Small Things" peaked at number six on theBillboard Hot 100.[50] Sum 41's debut albumAll Killer No Filler was certified triple platinum in their home country of Canada.[51] Its song "Fat Lip" peaked at number one on the US Billboard alternative airplay chart[52] and number eight on the UK singles chart.[53]
Avril Lavigne was a key pop-punk artist in the 2000s.
Avril Lavigne's 2002 albumLet Go set a precedent for the success of female-fronted pop-punk acts. Journalist Nick Laugher wrote that it was "undeniable" that the record launched pop-punk into the mainstream, "blurring the lines with it and straight-up pop music, and making it more of a cultural movement than a genre."[57] Other critics and publications noticed that because of Lavigne's punk-driven-pop anthems,[58][59][60] she has earned the reputation as the genre's "queen".[61][62] For her part, Lavigne preferred to describe her music as "heavy pop rock", rather than punk.[63][64] Other pop-punk bands that achieved popularity includeGood Charlotte,Simple Plan andMxPx.[22] Good Charlotte's 2002 albumThe Young and the Hopeless went triple platinum.[65] Simple Plan's 2002 debut albumNo Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls was certified double platinum[66] and its 2004 follow-upStill Not Getting Any... went platinum.[67]
According toBrooklyn Vegan's Andrew Sacher, after the success of "hugely popular" 2000s bands such as Fall Out Boy,Paramore, and My Chemical Romance, "the line between pop punk and emo look[ed] close to nonexistent."[78] Several pop-punk bands took different musical directions in the late 2000s, with Panic! at the Disco crafting the Beatles-inspired, baroque-styled recordPretty. Odd. (2008) and Fall Out Boy experimenting with glam rock, blues rock and R&B onFolie a Deux (2008), both of which created fan confusion and backlash.Folie a Deux sold worse than their preceding albums, a representation of the backlash from their fanbase as the group experimented with a musical style differing from their established pop-punk sound.[79][80]
The late-2000s also saw the pioneering of neon pop-punk, a style of pop-punk that embraced more elements of pop and electronic music than was traditional in the genre.[81] Popular groups in the style at the time includedAll Time Low,the Maine,the Cab,[81]Metro Station,[82]Boys Like Girls,Cobra Starship andForever the Sickest Kids.[83] Metro Station's 2007 single "Shake It" peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100[84] and number 6 on the UK Singles Chart.[85] All Time Low's 2008 single "Dear Maria, Count Me In" is certified double platinum in the United States,[86] and their 2009 albumNothing Personal peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Digital Albums chart.[87] The Maine's 2008 debut albumCan't Stop Won't Stop peaked at number 9 on the Billboard digital albums chart.[88] Cobra Starship's 2009 albumHot Mess reached number 4 on the Billboard 200.[89] Boys Like Girls' 2009 second albumLove Drunk peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200 chart.[90]
Pop-punk lost its mainstream popularity in the early 2010s, with rock bands and guitar-centric music becoming rare on dance-focused pop radio.[91] Some acts, such asNew Found Glory, have seen concert attendance numbers decrease steadily.[92] Devon Maloney ofMTV wrote that "Pop punk and emo bands don't headlineCoachella orBonnaroo; they rarely, if ever, are even billed on mainstream festival stages," and notes that it has similarly disappeared from the press. The only magazines that featured pop-punk bands were niche publications such asAlternative Press and the occasional teen magazine, while influential pop-punk magazineAMP ceased publication in 2013.[93] The decline in mainstream popularity for the genre, coupled with the closure of many mid-size venues associated with it, resulted in many venues and labels returning to theDIY ethic that helped spawn the punk movement.[94][95][failed verification]
By 2012, pop-punk bands that had achieved minimal mainstream success had seen a return to grassroots form, considered "the micro-operation style that yielded the results that caught the mainstream's attention in the first place."[93]Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory wrote in an op-ed forAlternative Press entitled "Why Pop-Punk's Not Dead—And Why It Still Matters Today": "This isn't a dead genre, and just because there isn't a song on the radio to clarify that shouldn't matter. ... Pop-punk means something to a lot of people and to me, having success as a band in our genre is about longevity, touring a lot and staying true to your fans."[92]
By the 2010s, many pop-punk bands had folded; "once essentially child stars, their members are now adult musicians hoping to move beyond the teen trappings that gave them careers."[93] Fall Out Boy and Paramore, two groups that achieved mainstream success within the genre, had two number one albums—Save Rock and Roll andParamore—side by side on theBillboard 200. Fall Out Boy along with other pop-punk bands that peaked during the mid-2000s began experimenting with the more pop side of pop punk, in order to maintain their relevancy and keep the interest of their fanbase while gaining the appeal of the newer generations that may not like their traditional sound or relate as much to the punk themes of the 1970s.[96] Their popularity provoked conversations about the state of the genre; Maloney opined that these records could not be viewed as pop-punk.[93]
In the early 2010s, a new wave of pop-punk groups emerged,[97][98] fronted bythe Wonder Years,State Champs,Neck Deep,Real Friends andKnuckle Puck.[99] Dave Beech ofClash noted that these groups were "[d]arker and more mature" than those previously, taking influence "and occasional indifference" from1990s emo.[98] Music commentatorFinn McKenty also cited the influence fromhardcore punk as being prominent during this period.[99] On the Wonder Years'The Upsides (2010), vocalist Dan Campbell sung about "His early twenties soul-searching and tales of strife" which "resonated with a [new] generation, inspiring countless imitators in the process."[100] This pushed Campbell to "the forefront of a new wave", and the album influenced a new wave of pop-punk bands.[100]Rock Sound included The Wonder Years'The Greatest Generation on their best albums of 2013 list, calling it "the defining album of what may well have been the genre's best year for a decade."[101]Kerrang! said the album "ripped up the pop punk blueprint" pushing the genre to "new peaks of invention, both lyrically and musically."[102]The Story So Far'sWhat You Don't See (2013) "cemented their place at the top table of nu pop punk".[103] In early 2014, Welsh bandNeck Deep released their debut albumWishful Thinking, whichRock Sound later called it "the greatest UK pop punk record ofall time."[104] During this period,Man Overboard's "Defend Pop Punk" shirt design, which featured anAK-47, became a popular symbol of the scene,[105] to the extent that a number of publication have posthumously described this period as the "Defend Pop Punk Era".[106][107][108]
I think pop-punk is a zombie. ... It hushed down for a bit but then it got brought back to life in an almost undead fashion. ... Back then it was mainstream, you would see it on MTV and things like that. Now, it's different, it's got a fighting chance and it's crawling its way back up. It started out with a pretty selective crowd but now it's opening up to more and more people.[109]
– Kelen Capener of The Story So Far, 2012
Australian band5 Seconds of Summer's 2014self titled album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and in many other countries,[110] and received whatthe Guardian journalist Harriet Gibsone described as "the kind of mania only ever granted to a massive boyband".[111] However, the band's status as pop-punk was controversial.Alternative Press described the band as important to the marketing of the pop-punk scene,[110] whereas in aClash magazine interview with Terry Bezer, he described them as "not pop-punk... [but] a valuable gateway for young kids to begin taking their first steps towards bands of... more substance."[112] Around this time, a number of other pop-punk-influenced pop artists gained mainstream attention, includingCharli XCX[113] andHalsey.[114]
Several pop-punk bands embarked on anniversary tours in the early to mid-2010s, playing some of their most popular albums in full. While some members of these bands have had mixed feelings about these performances, quite often these tours sell as well as or better than the first time around.[93] Club promoters in the UK have created nights based around lasting appreciation of the genre.[115] The Warped Tour still attracts hundreds of thousands of attendees each year; the 2012 tour attracted 556,000 festival-goers, its third-best attendance.[93] Bobby Olivier ofThe Star-Ledger wrote: "The genre ... continues to reinvent itself and Warped is pop punk's prom."[116]
In 2016,Rolling Stone reported that pop-punk was "still one of the most predominant and popular rock genres". The magazine conducted a reader's poll for the "10 Best Pop-Punk Albums of All Time" that ultimately included Green Day (Dookie,American Idiot,Nimrod), Blink-182 (Enema of the State,Take Off Your Pants and Jacket,Dude Ranch), the Ramones (Ramones), the Offspring (Smash),Jimmy Eat World (Bleed American), andGeneration X(Valley of the Dolls).[117]
In the late 2010s, the genre was influential in the development ofemo rap. Many emo rappers gained mainstream attention during this period. In particular,Lil Peep,Lil Uzi Vert,Juice WRLD andXXXTentacion were all vocal about their love for and influence from pop-punk.[118][119] Emo rapperWicca Phase Springs Eternal was even a member of the influential 2010s pop-punk bandTigers Jaw.[120] This brought about a revived interest in the genre in popular culture,[118][119] leading to a number notable artists beginning to release po- punk songs towards the end of the decade. Emo rapperLil Aaron and pop singerKim Petras released the pop-punk song "Anymore" on September 5, 2018.[121] On 13 February 2019,Yungblud and pop singerHalsey released the pop-punk song "11 Minutes" featuringTravis Barker.[122] The song was certified gold in the United States,[123] peaked at number one on the Billboard Bubbling under Top 100 chart[124] and was performed at the 2019iHeartRadio Music Awards.[125] On June 7, 2019,Machine Gun Kelly, who had been established as arapper for over a decade, released the pop-punk song "I Think I'm Okay" featuring Yungblud and Travis Barker. His first release in the genre, the song was nominated at the 2019Billboard Music Awards,[126] and was certified platinum within a year.[127] On July 12, 2019, Cold Hart and Yawns of the influential emo rap collectiveGothBoiClique, released the pop-punk albumGood Morning Cruel World,[128] and on September 18, 2019, emo rapperLil Tracy released the pop-punk song "Beautiful Nightmare".[129]
Machine Gun Kelly has been credited by publications such asKerrang! as leading a pop-punk revival in the 2020s.
In September 2020, Machine Gun Kelly released his fifth studio albumTickets to My Downfall, his first entirely pop-punk album. The album debuted at number 1 on theBillboard 200 chart, becoming the first rock album to top the chart sinceTool'sFear Inoculum in September 2019.[132] TheEvening Standard credited the album as "bridg[ing] the gap" between the modern pop punk scene and the mainstream interest that developed from the emo rap scene.[126] "My Ex's Best Friend", a song fromTickets to My Downfall, has since peaked at number 21 onBillboard Hot 100. Because of this, a number of media outlets began crediting him with leading a pop-punk revival.[133][134][135]
An article byKerrang! credited Machine Gun Kelly as well as Yungblud as bringing the genre back to mainstream attention. In addition to this, the publication cited the appTikTok as one of the key factors, as videos tagged #poppunk had received 400 million views by January 21, 2021. On the app, viral trends took place using tracks from pop-punk bands like All Time Low, Simple Plan and Paramore.[136] Some popular TikTok content creators even began releasing music in the genre around this time. Notably, TikTokerJxdn began releasing pop-punk music in February 2020,[137] whileHuddy (then LilHuddy) did the same thing the following year releasing his debut single "21st Century Vampire".[138] This ledPolygon to term this new wave of artists "TikTokcore".[139]Spin writer Al Shipley described pop-punk and its new association with hip hop as 2020's "commercial juggernaut".[140]
In 2023,Cassadee Pope (from the defunct bandHey Monday) announced that she was stepping away from country music and going back to her roots in pop-punk, with the release of the singles "People That I Love Leave", "Almost There", and "Coma" (featuring Taylor Acorn).[149][150] In August 2023, Rodrigo released the song "Bad Idea Right?", which features pop-punk and indie rock influences, from her second studio albumGuts. The song peaked at number-one on theBillboardHot Rock & Alternative Songs Chart.[151] On 18 October 2024,Bruno Mars andK-pop singerRosé released the pop-punk single "Apt.",[152] which became one of the biggest streaming successes in both the United States and the world upon release, toppingSpotify's global and US daily streaming charts.[153]
Emo pop became popular in the mid-2000s, with record labels such asFueled by Ramen releasing platinum albums from bands includingMy Chemical Romance,Fall Out Boy,Panic! at the Disco,Red Jumpsuit Apparatus andParamore.[154] Maloney wrote: "While many pop punk fans adamantly deny any association between their favorite acts and those labeled "emo," crossover bands who melded the two have gradually put both genres in the same scene-boat."[93]
Easycore (less commonly known aspopcore,dudecore,softcore,happy hardcore, andEZ)[155] is a genre that merges pop-punk with elements ofmetalcore.[156]It often makes use ofbreakdowns,screamed vocals,major key progressions and riffs andsynthesizers. The genre's roots come from early 2000s pop-punk groupsSum 41 andNew Found Glory. New Found Glory'sself-titled andStick and Stones albums and Sum 41's song "Fat Lip" were some of the earliest and most influential released in the genre. The style's name originates from the 2008 "Easycore tour", which featuredA Day to Remember,Four Year Strong and headliners New Found Glory, which itself was a pun based on the name of "hardcore punk".[155]
Neon pop-punk (also known as simplyneon pop)[157] is a form of pop-punk that emphasizessynthesizers.[158]Alternative Press writer Tyler Sharp wrote that while this wasn't the first instance that "a band decided to put fuzzy keys over their chord progressions, but it was a time when that formula was perfected."[158] Kika Chatterjee ofAlternative Press added that the late 2000s "brought in glowing synths and poppy melodies that shifted the entire definition of [pop punk]", giving it the "neon" moniker.[159] Sharp citedForever the Sickest Kids' debut albumUnderdog Alma Mater (2008) as "a big moment" for the genre.[160]
The punk rock music community often perceived pop-punk to be, according to Iain Ellis ofPopMatters, "too soft, too fake, too derivative, and too corporate".[161] In a 2003 interview, Buzzcocks guitaristSteve Diggle would suggest that punk had become a "huge umbrella", stating, "And fair play to bands likeGreen Day and stuff, you know, they've been inspired when they were really young by us and the Clash and things, but it comes from a different well. When we started, punk to me was the Clash, the [Sex] Pistols, and the Buzzcocks over here [the United Kingdom], and in the [United] States it was theDolls,Iggy, and the Ramones. We invented our style, just like the Clash did and the Ramones did. But the bands that have come later, some of them you see tend to just ape what went on before, where I'd rather them do their own thing a bit more with it."[162]
Green Day were accused of selling out since the release ofDookie for signing to a major label and becoming mainstream.[163] John Lydon of the 1970s punk bandthe Sex Pistols criticized Green Day and said that Green Day are not a punk band. Lydon said: "Don't try and tell me Green Day are punk. They're not, they're plonk and they're bandwagoning on something they didn't come up with themselves. I think they are phony."[164] Green Day guitarist and lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong said: "Sometimes I think we've become redundant because we're this big band now; we've made a lot of money—we're not punk rock anymore. But then I think about it and just say, 'You can take us out of a punk rock environment, but you can't take the punk rock out of us.'"[163]
Blink-182 also received a lot of criticism from punk rock fans, being accused of selling out for their pop-music-inspired style of pop-punk. Lydon called Blink-182 "bunch of silly boys ... an imitation of a comedy act."[165] Blink-182 guitarist and singerTom DeLonge responded to criticism, saying: "I love all those criticisms, because fuck all those magazines! I hate with a passionMaximumrocknroll and all those zines that think they know what punk is supposed to be. I think it's so much more punk to piss people off than to conform to all those veganistic views."[166]
In a November 2004 interview, Sum 41 rhythm guitarist and lead singer Deryck Whibley said: "We don't even consider ourselves punk. We're just a rock band. We want to do something different. We want to do our own thing. That's how music has always been to us."[167] Sum 41's lead guitarist Dave Baksh reiterated Whibley's claims, stating "We just call ourselves rock... It's easier to say than punk, especially around all these fuckin' kids that think they know what punk is. Something that was based on not having any rules has probably been one of the strictest fucking rule books in the world."[168]
Music critic for Treblezine Jeff Terich argued that the debate regarded the ethics of "pop-punk" is redundant, saying that there is "no discussion of the genre that doesn't eventually devolve into the black-mold-like growth of Disney-approved mallrats, but the irony of it is that all punk is pop. The Ramones? Pop. The Clash? Pop. And The Buzzcocks? Damn right they're pop."[169]
^Leahey, Andrew."Artist Biography: Avril Lavigne".AllMusic. Retrieved24 February 2021.Avril Lavigne became an international star in the 2000s with her punk-influenced pop anthems and anti-starlet image.
^Moyle, Tracey (July 9, 2020)."10 Influential Pop Punk Bands of the '90s & 2000s".Punktuation. Retrieved24 February 2021.Avril Lavigne burst into charts in the early 2000' giving teenagers (and beyond) the hero they needed. Her punk driven pop anthems and anti-starlet image was the inspiration ... There is no doubt her strength, passion and incredible talent was and is a powerful influence for so many embracing this Queen of Canadian Pop-Punk.
^"Avril Lavigne Essentials".Apple Music.Archived from the original on September 20, 2018. RetrievedSeptember 20, 2018....the Canadian singer proved herself a crossover star, garnering legions of both mainstream and fringe fans with her Cali punk-indebted sound.
^Abou-Jaoude, Paula (November 16, 2007)."Uma Avril patricinha".Capricho Magazine (in Portuguese). Retrieved13 October 2020.I've been listening to a lot of punk rock, so you might notice a certain punk influence on my new record. I like aggressive music, but I like pop rock a lot, which is what I really know how to do.