It's time for those old band t-shirts stuffed into boxes and shoved into the back of closets to remerge. Within the entertainment industry, there have been multiple reboots and spin-offs of television shows, and the same is happening in the music industry. Pop punk bands are making their marks over the summer with tours and festivals, proving that the once-favored genre never died.
Pop punk uses pop music melodies with punk rock tempos to give music listeners a great experience. A branch off of punk music, pop punk has the same loud, fast, rebellious style but is slightly softer. Pop punk did not emerge until the 1990s and 2000s, with bands like Green Day and Rancid growing in popularity.
Many speculate that the genre died because of the dissolution of many famous pop punk bands. Although true, the genre in fact has not died, but was pushed out by the surge of other genres such as R&B, hip-hop, and rap.
With the loss of listeners and a declining fan base, pop punk musicians were forced to break up or fall back into the shadows. Some bands, such as Panic! at the Disco, made the transition from pop punk to general pop to remain relevant and further grow their fan base. Pop punk musicians are still producing music, with bands such as Waterparks and State Champs. There are also older bands still producing music such as Good Charlotte and Blink-182.
Although pushed out of the limelight, pop punk bands are coming back with international tours and music festivals. Recently, Simple Plan and New Found Glory announced their “Pop Punk’s Still Not Dead Tour,‘ kicking off during the end of May and ending in June. Also, after a nine-year hiatus, My Chemical Romance is launching a tour beginning in March in Australia, and are making their way to the U.S. in September. In 2019, Blink-182 launched a tour with Lil Wayne to promote their album Nine.
Although not as popular as other music genres, pop punk isn’t dead, but silently brewing in the corner, waiting for the right moment to come out. A music genre never dies, but gets pushed aside and ultimately forgotten while other genres storm the industry. Some may consider pop punk dead, but true fans know that once famed genre never died.
Iana Fields is a freshman studying English creative writing at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Iana? Tweet her @FieldsIana.
