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The Ramones
The Ramones are often cited as the first band to define the punk rock sound, and heavily influenced the 1970s punk movement. The Ramones played before an audience for the first time on March 30, 1974, at Performance Studios. The songs they played were very fast and very short; most clocked in at under two minutes.
Photo Credit: The Ramones -
The Buzzcocks and The Undertones
In the late 1970s, UK bands such as Buzzcocks and The Undertones combined pop-style tunes and lyrical themes with punk rock's speed and chaotic edge. The Buzzcocks formed in February 1976 and performed live for the first time on 1 April 1976 at their college.
Photo Credit: The Buzzcocks -
The New York Times
One of the earliest appearances of the term pop punk was in a 1977 New York Times article, "Cabaret: Tom Petty's Pop Punk Rock Evokes Sounds of 60s". -
Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü played a huge role in convincing the underground that melody and punk rock weren't antithetical. Mould has written that he considers the band's first "real gig" to have been May 17, 1980, at the renowned punk club Jay's Longhorn Bar.
Photo Credit: Hüsker Dü -
Bad Religion
Sounthern California's hardcore punk scene emphasized a more melodic approach, with a positive yet sarcastic approach. Bad Religion's first official show was on November 11, 1980 at Joey Kills Bar in Burbank, California.
Photo Credit: Bad Religoin -
The Offspring
The Offspring began with Bryan "Dexter" Holland and Greg Kriesel playing music together in a garage in Cypress, California. After hearing the T.S.O.L. album Change Today? and a riot at a 1984 Social Distortion show, they decided to form a band. In 1986, after changing their name to The Offspring, the band released their first single; the 7" "I'll Be Waiting". They released the single on their self-made Black Label record company.
Photo Credit: The Offspring -
Green Day
Green Day was originally part of the punk scene at the DIY 924 Gilman Street club in Berkeley, California. Their first live performance took place on October 17, 1987, at Rod's Hickory Pit in Vallejo, California. Green Day was widely credited, alongside fellow California punk bands Sublime, Bad Religion, The Offspring and Rancid, with popularizing and reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States.
Photo Credit: Green Day -
Maximum RocknRoll
In the 1980s, the term pop punk was used in publications such as Maximum RocknRoll to describe bands similar to Social Distortion, Agent Orange, The Nip Drivers and T.S.O.L. An issue feating Social Distorition was published in October of 1988.
Photo Credit: Maximum RocknRoll -
TV and Radio Play
MTV and radio stations such as Los Angeles' KROQ-FM played a major role in the genre's mainstream success. -
Green Day's "Dookie"
Green Day's third studio album "Dookie" became a worldwide commercial success, peaking at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 and charting in seven countries. The album helped propel Green Day, and even punk rock music into mainstream popularity. Other Califorina punk bands began to acheive similar success, including The Offspring and Bad Religion.
Photo Credit: Green Day -
Warped Tour
Warped Tour began as a showcase for alternative and punk rock music, and is the longest running touring music festival in North America. It brought punk even further into the US mainsteam with renewed visibilty. However, this came with concerns that pop was becomeing too mainstream, leading to a commerical downslide into 1998.
Photo Credit: Warped Tour -
Blink-182's "Enema of the State"
After a long series of performances at various clubs and festivals and several indie recordings throughout the 1990s, Blink-182 first achieved popularity on the Warped Tour and in Australia. Enema of the State had an extensive impact on contemporary pop punk, reinventing it for a new generation and spawning countless tributes and acolytes.
Photo Credit: Blink-182 -
Saves the Day's "Through Being Cool"
Moving from a melodic hardcore sound to a more pop punk sound, the album was recorded in 11 days. The album would pave teh way for a new wave of pop-punk, influencing Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and Taking Back Sunday.
Photo Credit: Saves the Day -
Sum 41's "All Killer, No Filler"
Sum 41's first major studo album went plantinum in 2001. Blink-182's "Take Off Your Pants" and Jacket and New Found Glory's "Stick and Stones" also achieved huge mainstream success in 2001.
Photo Credit: Sum 41 -
Avril Lavigne
Solo artist Avril Lavigne, who has been referred to as the "pop punk princess" found commercial success in 2002, with her punk-influenced pop sound. Lavigne released Let Go in June 2002 in the US, where it reached number two on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
Photo Credit: Avril Lavigne -
Green Day's "American Idiot"
A concept album and "punk rock opera," American Idiot follows the story of Jesus of Suburbia, an adolescent anti-hero that is divided between "rage and love." Through its plot, the album expresses the disillusionment and dissent experienced by a generation which came of age during various turmoil including the Iraq War. The album marked a career comeback for Green Day.
Photo Credit: Green Day -
Emo Pop
Emo Pop, a fusion of emo and pop punk, became popular in the mid-2000s following the success of Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Red Jumpsuit apparatus and Paramore.
Fall Out Boy's "Under the Cork Tree" sold 3 million worldwide. The band was a staple of the Chicago hardcore scene, mixing pop sensibilities with hardcore punk.
Photo Credit: Fall Out Boy -
All Time Low's "Nothing Personal"
All Time Low's emotional and angsty third studio album recieved some mainstream success, and marked the decline of pop punk's 00's popularity. -
AMP
Influencial pop punk magazine AMP ceases publication. Pop punk has essentially disappeared from the press, and is only featured in niche publications like Alternative Press. According to Devon Maloney's article, bands aged out of the teen angst that made them huge, and as adults have tried to move past that style of music. -
The Wonder Year's "The Greatest Generation"
The Wonder Year's fourth album is called "the defining album of [pop punk's] best year in a decade." The album abandoned the old pop punk sound, and forged ahead musically and lyrically for the genre. The album marked a renaissance in pop punk, reinventing old ideas and bringing the genre into a new decade of relevance.
Photo Credit: The Wonder Years -
5SOS
The Australian band's self-titled album debuted at number 1 on Billboard, and Alternative Press described that band as important to the marketing of the pop-punk scene.
Photo Credit: 5 Seconds of Summer -
Neck Deep's "Life's Not out to Get You"
Neck Deep's second studio album charted at number 8 in the UK, top 20 in the US, and top 40 in Ireland and Australia. Rock Sound editor Ryan Bird wrote that Life's Not out to Get You is the kind of "pop-punk album you just don't hear any more." Bird compared the music to early 1990s "through and through", and some of the songs to the likes of Sum 41 and New Found Glory.
Photo Credit: Neck Deep
