Proto-Pop Punk
The Marriage Of Hardcore & Hooks
I came to power pop through the punk door.
Attracted as I was to the intoxicating angry energy of hardcore as a youngster, I’ve always been a sucker for good hooks. Lucky for me, there were plenty of punk bands already marrying the two during my formative tween and teen years in the ‘80s.
I was spoiled for choice growing up along the SoCal coastline. Bands such as Descendents and Redd Kross were right in my backyard, and Agent Orange, Social Distortion, and Adolescents were just down the freeway. Later on, I’d discover music by The Last originally released by Greg Shaw’s legendary Bomp! Records.
I also found Posh Boy’s Beach Blvd. comp after the fact, but The Simpletones and The Crowd retroactively connected some dots. Rodney Bingenheimer’s legendary KROQ radio show and compilations played a big role in forming my musical tastes as well.
And, of course, many ‘70s British and NYC bands were combining punk and pop out of the gate. In some ways, Never Mind the Bollocks almost sounds like a pop album in retrospect. Almost.
I think it all came together for me when I finally heard the debut Ramones album.
Released in 1976, the seminal self-titled collection was seven years old by the time I gave it a serious listen. That happened on a perilous camping trip with two close friends, three young teens under the supervision of my head-banging older brothers.
I slid the cassette into the motorhome’s stereo and had one of those magical musical moments. Nobody else seemed as enthralled by songs like “Bliztkrieg Bop,” “Beat on the Brat,” “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” or—go figure, my instant favorite—“53rd and 3rd,” but I was certain I’d found my music.
Broadly speaking, my childhood friend group split into two camps as we entered high school—Rush on one side, Black Flag on the other. Meanwhile, I was falling for bands like Generation X, Buzzcocks, The Go-Go’s, X-Ray Spex, The Runaways, and The Undertones, on the twisting road toward power pop obsession.
Mainstream pop punk was a style of music I was ready for by the time I heard the first two Green Day albums.
Lookout Records bands like Screeching Weasel and Mr. T Experience were already showing up on friends’ mixed tapes, and skate punk by Pennywise and Lagwagon brought some hardcore angst back into the equation. Out on the edges of early ‘90s pop punk, Jawbreaker, Rancid, Nerf Herder, and The Muffs became favorites as well.
I was thrilled when my teenage heroes in Descendents got to bathe in the alt rock spotlight with their 1996 comeback Everything Sucks. It really felt like a band that, to my ears, played a big role in creating the pop punk template was getting the credit they deserved. Same with Bad Religion’s impressive run of releases in the ‘90s.
I didn’t really stick with pop punk as it splintered and evolved into countless other micro-genres heading into the new Millennium, but I’ll always consider that sound foundational to my musical tastes—especially those early trailblazers.
Below are a few of my other favorite proto-pop punk songs.
Definitions may vary. This is just how I currently think about a particular step in my musical journey. As Descendents would say: Enjoy!
I had a similar experience. The Green Day-Blink 182-Jimmy Eat World moment was a big one for me growing up. But then I listened to Big Star and Shoes and was like "why wasn't I just listening to this when I was growing up?"
If you want some solid pop punk leaning more underground check out: The Marked Men, Chinese Telephones, Dillinger 4, Tiltwheel, Toys That Kill, etc..etc..