Tag: Pop Punk
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Arm’s Length ‘Never Before Seen, Never Again Found’ (2022)
Never Before Seen, Never Again Found feels like a breath of fresh air for anyone who grew up loving emo but got a little tired of all the self-importance that came with it. The band pulls together the best parts of that elder emo energy—heart-on-sleeve lyrics, crashing guitars, and melodies that actually stick—with none of…
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Waterparks ‘FANDOM’ (2019)
FANDOM by Waterparks is one of the more unique albums I’ve lsitened to in a minute. It’s basically an explosion of neon-tinged pop-punk energy, electronic gloss, and candy-coated hooks. Lead singer Awsten Knight and company turn heartbreak, internet fame, and fan culture into a hyperactive sugar rush of sound that is equal parts confession on…
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The Story So Far ‘I Want To Disappear In The USA’ (2025)
Along with having a great band name (seriously what a great goddamn band name) The Story So Far is one of my favorite pop punk bands operating today. So when I saw that they’d be on tour with fellow modern pop punk titan Neck Deep and a hotshot upstart Origami Angel I was pretty excited.…
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+44 ‘When Your Heart Stops Beating’ (2006)
After the highly publicized breakup of Blink-182 in 2005 Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker found themselves navigating both personal and creative fallout from their strained relationship with guitarist Tom DeLonge. While DeLonge went on to form Angels & Airwaves, Hoppus and Barker decided to channel their energy into a new project that retained the urgency…
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Useless ID ‘Redemption’ (2003)
Useless ID caught my eye last week when I was reading up on some lore about The Ataris in preparation to see them live alongside MxPx in a few months (I’m pumped!). I was kind of going down the rabbit hole of albums that lead singer Kris Roe produced over the years and read a…
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Between You & Me ‘Armageddon’ (2021)
I don’t need to describe my love for pop punk (the last 2 1/2 years of writing about music has made that clear) and I’m always in the mood for hearing some new bands in the scene. Between You & Me heralds from Australia and their 2021 album Armageddon channels the raw energy of early…
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KNIVES FL ‘One Cut Away From Love’ (2024)
Every once in awhile (or if we’re being honest, a lot of while) I’ll get served ads on Instagram for young up-and-coming bands. The vast majority of these are in the pop punk vein. At any rate KNIVES FL was one of those bands who got delivered into my algorithm and I enjoyed this album.…
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Sincere Engineer ‘Cheap Grills’ (2023)
Sincere Engineer has that sharp Chicago punk rock sound down pat, complete with brilliantly depressed storytelling that sprints through tales of heartbreak and shoddy self-repair. Frontwoman Deanna Belos’ earnest vocal approach makes her sound like she’s right at the top of her range on every song. And she filters her diary-like lyrics through punchy, hook-laden…
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Bowling for Soup ‘Drunk Enough To Dance’ (2002)
Bowling for Soup carved out a pretty cool niche as a band who could make comedy rock songs that had element of truth to them. There was their iconic “Girl All the Bad Guys Want” single off this album that made them super popular and regaled a story that pretty much every dorky high schooler…
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MxPx ‘The Ever Passing Moment’ (2000)
I’ve previously waxed poetic about MxPx and how they were one of “gateway” bands into the magical world of punk rock music during my middle school years. I’ll always hold Life In General a notch above everything else in their discography for the simple fact that it was the first album of theirs I listened…
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Spanish Love Songs ‘Brave Faces Everyone’ (2020)
Spanish Love Songs isn’t for everyone. But they certainly are for me. I love their Americana-tinged pop punk, the raw vocals from lead singer Dylan Slocum, and the honesty in which they approach their songwriting. Every song is a story that comes from a place of honesty. While Slocum’s harsh “yell-sing” vocals may be grating…
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WSTR ‘Red, Green Or Inbetween’ (2017)
Pop punk has historically been by and large dominated by American bands for it’s entire lifespan. That’s starting to change a bit, with British acts (like WSTR) beginning to gain more and more prominence. Their debut full-length album Red, Green Or Inbetween is a fun romp through all of the tropes that make pop punk…
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Knuckle Puck ‘Copacetic’ (2015)
Sometimes you want to listen to a record that doesn’t overthink things, especially in the pop punk genre. No frills. No gimmicks. Just heart-on-your-sleeve hooks delivered with conviction until your voice is completely shredded by the time you hit track four. Knuckle Puck’s debut album Copacetic is just that. The Chicago quintet carved out their…
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The Days of Stillness ‘The Days of Stillness’ (2006)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Today we’ll be covering my high school band The Days of Stillness. We re-released our old recordings this week onto the world wide web, and as part of the process I got together with the guys to reminisce about those golden days of our late teenage years and what it was like playing…
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Jawbreaker ’24 Hour Revenge Therapy’ (1994)
24 Hour Revenge Therapy is one of those records that echoes far louder than its initial release might suggest. Dropping in 1994, it helped shape what punk would become over the next decade, offering a version of hardcore that was emotional without being soft, smart without being smug. Blake Schwarzenbach’s lyrics read like scuffed-up poetry,…
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Millencolin ‘Home Sweet Home’ (2002)
Home From Home found Millencolin stretching out and showing just how much range lives inside their high-speed, melodic punk DNA. While rooted in the band’s Swedish skate punk core, this album isn’t afraid to take detours across a wide variety of punk genres. There’s a garage rock looseness to tracks like “Man or Mouse,” a…
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State Champs ‘The Finer Things’ (2013)
The Finer Things, State Champs’ 2013 debut, is a sugar-rush of pop punk energy—tight, fast, and full of heart. It’s the sound of youth at full sprint what with its crashing drums, soaring hooks, and massive guitar hooks. There’s very much a mid-2000’s vibe to State Champs (think in the vein of New Found Glory…
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Origami Angel ‘Somewhere City’ (2019)
Origami Angel burst onto the modern emo scene with a fastball-down-the-pipe energy which blended rapid-fire math rock with hyperactive skate-punk and added in a dose of unshakable optimism. Somewhere City is a nod to a world where childhood comforts like all-day Danny Phantom marathons and Happy Meals serve as legitimate forms of self-care (shoutout to…
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Panic! at the Disco ‘A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out’ (2005)
Hearing A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out as a teenager felt like stepping into a neon-lit circus where every song was bursting with drama, angst, and theatrical flair. Brendon Urie’s vocals soared effortlessly from smooth crooning to high-flying belts. It’s rare that you can ever describe a pop punk album as being operatic but this…
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Blink-182 ‘California’ (2016)
Blink-182’s California marked a major turning point for the band as it was their first album without founding guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge, who departed in 2015 to focus on other projects amidst a strained relationship with Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker. In his place they added Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio, whose addition added…
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Sum 41 ‘Half Hour of Power’ (2000)
Hate to be the old head hucking around hot takes, but Half Hour of Power is my favorite album by Sum 41. I’m not claiming that it’s their best album or the one I would recommend to folks listening to them for the first time (that would obviously be All Killer, No Filler). But Half…
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Fenix TX ‘Fenix TX’ (1999)
I went on a bit of a pop punk bender this weekend busting out some of the old classics like Blink-182 and Sum 41 which usually leads to a “Shirtless Saturday” type situation with my toddlers where we take our shirts off and dance around the house like crazy (I swear I’m a good dad…
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Four Year Strong ‘Four Year Strong’ (2015)
It’s always funny to me when bands are like four albums into their discography, sit down to write a new album, and then someone in the room is like “Hey we never did a self-titled album, we should probably do that yeah?” and then they inevitably put it out. It was sort of commonplace for…
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Relient K ‘Let It Snow Baby…Let It Reindeer’ (2007)
My love for pop punk isn’t a well-kept secret (it’s basically the genre that shaped my musical tastes in middle school as I’ve described in great detail over the past two years) and Relient K is one of those bands that have always held a special place in my heart. Their 2004 magnum opus Mmhmm…
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Joyce Manor ‘Never Hungover Again’ (2014)
If you’re looking for an album that is a masterclass in brevity, you’ve come to the right place. Never Hungover Again packs an emotional punch into its 19-minute runtime that most albums twice its length struggle to achieve, and marked a turning point for the band which saw them refinine their punk-rooted sound into something…
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Brand New ‘Your Favorite Weapon’ (2001)
When Brand New dropped Your Favorite Weapon in 2001, few could have predicted the monumental impact the Long Island band would have on alternative music in the decade that would follow. At its core their debut was a fiery pop-punk record, drenched in youthful angst, sharp melodies, and Jesse Lacey’s piercingly personal lyrics. The energy…
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The Story So Far ‘Under Soil and Dirt’ (2011)
The Story So Far arrived in 2011 like a shot of adrenaline to a pop-punk scene that had grown relatively complacent in the late 2000’s. Recorded at the now-legendary Panda Studios in Fremont, California (which is about a 20 minute drive north of me), the album captured the Bay Area’s burgeoning pop-punk scene with anthemic…
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New Found Glory ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’ (1999)
Recorded on a shoestring budget in Miami, Florida, Nothing Gold Can Stay captured the raw, unfiltered essence of suburban teenage life and was a staple in my Walkman during my middle school years. Tracks like “Hit or Miss” blended catchy hooks with a relentless tempo, laying the groundwork for the infectious, emotionally charged sound that…
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Green Day ‘Dookie’ (1994)
In 1994 Green Day’s Dookie exploded onto the music scene like explosives duct-taped to someone’s spine (yes that is a “Having A Blast” reference), vaulting the band into the mainstream. They were born in the gritty punk clubs of California’s East Bay right up the road from me, in an underground scene where DIY ethics…
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Mannequin Pussy ‘Patience’ (2019)
Outside of the stellar band name (you’re lying if this one didn’t catch your eye immediately), Mannequin Pussy is a pretty exceptional punk rock band. I first heard Patience earlier this year and was immediately gripped by its earnest accessibility. The album strikes a balance between chaotic energy and profound vulnerability, filled with intricate melodies…
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The Matches ‘Decomposer’ (2006)
My love for The Matches was first sparked by their debut album E. Von Dahl Killed The Locals. It was one of the first pop punk albums that truly felt personal to me in a significant way– as I wrote earlier this year when reviewing the album: There was a point in high school where…
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Smoking Popes ‘Destination Failure’ (1997)
Smoking Popes lead singer Josh Caterer was famously obsessed with big band tunes, and that love affair helped him develop a vocal style that was decidedly unique in the punk rock world. You can hear the influence Caterer had on his contemporaries when you listen to Alkaline Trio bassist Dan Andriano, whose vocal style and…
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Patrick Stump ‘Marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends’ (2024)
As a parent of two young kids you get exposed to (dare I say completely deluged with) programming geared toward children, from TV shows to music to toys. And while some of it is relatively disposable and grating, there exists some really solid offerings that you can’t help but sing along to– Bluey is filled…
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Fall Out Boy ‘Take This To Your Grave’ (2003)
Despite the fact that Fall Out Boy is absolutely one of the most prolific pop punk bands of all-time and their debut album Take This To Your Grave was released only two years after Sum 41’s All Killer No Filler and four years following Blink-182’s 1999 album Enema of The State, in my mind the…
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Simple Plan ‘No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls’ (2002)
During the rise of pop punk in the early aughts there were a ton of bands that plied their trade on MTV’s Total Request Live. Few were better than capturing the silly teen angst of being a 13-year old than Simple Plan, whose debut album No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls captured exactly what it felt…
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No Pressure ‘No Pressure’ (2022)
I’ve been a huge fan of The Story So Far for a long time now. Their album Proper Dose is one of my favorite pop punk albums of all-time, a seminal record in the genre. As I wrote earlier about it: Whether it be the perils of substance abuse (“Keep This Up”) or a triumphant…
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