As New Wave and college rock, followed by ska, rap, emo and even boy-band aesthetics have made their way into the mix, one feature has remained constant: Pop-punk is for the teens – or at least the young at heart. Over the years, what we now know as pop-punk has transformed rapidly, evolving with the times and the trends. And punk’s focus on speed, concision and three-chord simplicity is a natural fit with pop’s core values. From hooky Seventies aces (The Buzzcocks, The Undertones) to Eighties hardcore heroes (Misfits, Descendents), Nineties hitmakers (Green Day, Blink-182) and beyond, punk bands have always championed great songwriting alongside their anti-authoritarian stance. Either you’re punk, or you’re not.”īut in one way or another, that contradiction – the idea of a staunchly underground art form with serious mainstream appeal – has been there all along. “I’ve always hated the phrase,” he explained later in Kerrang! “I think it’s a contradiction in terms. In a 2016 tweet, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong declared war on pop-punk.
