Wikipedia says "Pop-punk" is a combination of punk rock and power pop that peaked in the 1990s and 2000s. I like a lot of punk rock and power pop from the 1960s though the 1980s, certainly. I like celebrated antecedents of '90s and '00s Pop-punk like the Buzzcocks or The Descendent's Milo Goes To College, for instances. I adored those early Undertones' singles, for another. The Ramones are in the punk rock and Pop-punk Pantheons, deservedly so. But, anyway, getting down to it I've always remained kind of agnostic about classic era Pop-punk: Green Day, Offspring, Rancid, Blink-182, Avril Lavigne, Good Charlotte, My Chemical Romance. I know if I think hard enough about it I can come up with some fond Pop-punk exceptions: Mr. T Experience, Weezer, The Veronicas, Aly & Aj's "Into the Rush," or "Since U Been Gone." But I'm already coloring outside the lines, I'm afraid. Was Radiohead's "Creep" Pop-punk? (Why not?) This maybe gets at my basic problem with Pop-punk: it's too much a color-by-numbers amalgam, neither punk rock or power poppy enough. Pro forma. But I'm an Old fogey: The Clash were my "punk rock" bangers and mash; Badfinger's "No Matter What" and The Guess Who's "Hand Me Down World" my favorite early '70s "power pop" tarts. What do I know about Pop-punk?! I haven't even heard The Wonder Years, even though I've been told any kind of self-respecting bonafide Pop-punk fan should. There could be scads of latter day Pop-punk Husker Du's for me on Band Camp but I don't know and won't likely find out anytime soon. So, of course, the proper Pop-punk song I like most is going to be as glammy teen-pop Top 40 as you can get but this is how I roll. Happy Punk Rock Tuesday.
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