Source Image: Laurence Dion, 'Paramore 03.07.2014 @Parahoy', 2014,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/laulawsky/13128820715/

Pop punk was a cultural phenomenon. It originated in the 1970s, but became more popular in the 90s and early 2000s. One of the first times the term pop punk was used in paper was in a New York Times article that was published in March 1977. The article was written by John Rockwell to describe Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Bands like the Ramones, The Clash and the Sex Pistols laid the groundwork for the genre in the 70’s. But it was bands like Green Day, Blink-182, and The Offspring that really brought it to the forefront, mostly for the more relatable, rebellious, and catchy lyrics.

Even here in Canada, we had Sum 41, Simple Plan, and Marianas Trench, just to name a few. And I even listen to these ones. Marianas Trench is one of my favourite bands to listen to to this day. They do do more than just pop punk nowadays.

Pop punk didn’t only revolve around music, it also influenced fashion. Pop punk fashion was characterized as having an edgy, rebellious aesthetic, and incorporated elements like ripped jeans, fan T-shirts, leather jackets, colourful hair, and some statement pieces.

Pop-punk fashion has just seemed to stay with us. With stores such as Hot Topic capitalizing on the popularity of pop punk. It sells a lot of punk-inspired designs as well as band T-shirts.

A lot of movies of the 2000s even had pop punk artists appear in them, or at least their songs. Such as Paramore’s ‘Decode’ being in Twilight. Or you have EuroTrip with the song ‘Scotty Doesn’t Know’ by Lustra but in the movie was performed by Matt Damon. The song is used as a plot device in the movie. Although I think one of my favourite instances of pop punk being in a TV show is from One Tree Hill where Fall Out Boy has a three-episode arc.

It started underground, went into the mainstream, and then went back underground. But it’s back in the mainstream again with artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Machine Gun Kelly, and Yungblud.

Even Olivia Rodrigo’s song ‘Good 4 U’ was inspired by Paramore’s 2007 song ‘Misery Business’. Or at least the chorus was. One of the genres that influenced her for the song was pop punk. And I mean, this song only came out in 2021 so it still influences us to this day.