Pop Punk!

Back in high school I loved listening to pop punk music- especially early Lookout! Records bands like Fifteen, Green Day and the Mr. T Experience. At the time, pop punk music seemed very obscure and underground but little did my friends and I know there were hundreds of thousands of other kids also buying these pop punk records and attending the shows in small clubs and houses all across the country. After Green Day’s Dookie exploded onto the music scene in 1994, pop punk suddenly became popular- and lucrative- and that pretty much spelled the end of any pop punk underground.

Green Day

Pop punk artists would be the first to admit they borrowed heavily from the music of the Beach Boys, Ramones, and Descendents and their lyrics usually revolve around girls, growing up, and going crazy. For the most part, pop punk was stupid, simple, and funny and that felt good at a time when life was becoming more serious and complicated for my friends and me as we were now dealing with things like college, jobs, relationships, mental illness, addiction, and leaving (and moving back) home. Pop punk helped soften the blows. Much of the stuff from my pop punk collection hasn’t aged very well- or maybe I’m just older- but there's no doubt it was a fun and exciting scene to have experienced first hand (before I went off and joined the Peace Corps in 1999). Here are some of my favorite pop punk songs. Enjoy!

The Queers

01. The Mr. T Experience – “Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba” (1996)
02. blink-182 – “All the Small Things” (1999)
03. Screeching Weasel – “I’m Gonna Strangle You” (1993)
04. All – “She’s My Ex” (1989)
05. Green Day – “Basket Case” (1994)
06. The Queers – “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got an Ugly Daughter” (1998)
07. The Offspring – “The Kids Aren’t Alright” (1998)
08. The Queers – “Love Love Love” (1990)

Listen to the playlist on Spotify... 

Recommended Links:

blink-182 – “All the Small Things”