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Pop punkblew up in the 1990s , but there was more to the writing style than its two enceinte stars — Green Day and Blink-182 . Thecommercial success of 1994’sDookieushered in a punk rock and roll gold rush while need Green Day out of cellar clubs and into arenas . With 1999’sEnema of the State , Mark Hoppus , Tom DeLonge , and Travis Barker number together to run naked through the streets , TRL , theBillboardcharts , and our mettle . But , between these authoritative pop - punk milepost , it ’s easy for some tooverlook the concealed pop punk gemsthat the decade had to offer .
Of course , pop punk did n’t start withDookie . The Ramones ' use of poppy Song dynasty social system influenced propagation long after they said , “ goodby amigos”(Ramones - core is considered a dada - punk subgenre ) . The Buzzcocks’Singles Going Steadyis a must - have . And while the Misfits are n’t “ pop - hood , ” they pair horror and sing - along chorus to great success ( with The Jasons carrying that bloody torch today ) . The other ‘ 80s brought speed and ira , but the rise of the melodic hard-core sound from bands ike Bad Religion , The Mr. T Experience , and Dag Nasty lay the foundation for pop - punk of the ‘ 90s .
Listening to these record album is like getting backstage pass to the Vans Warped Tour , except you do n’t in reality have to leave your star sign .
1Screeching Weasel
My Brain Hurts(1991)
Three year after Screeching Weasel shifted from hardcore punk to a more musical sound onBoogadaboogadaboogada ! , the Chicago stripe cement their individuality with 1991’sMy Brain Hurts . The radical — Ben Weasel ( vocal music ) , John Jughead ( leash guitar ) , Dan Vapid ( rhythm guitar ) , and Dan Panic ( metal drum ) with Dave Naked on sea bass — recorded what would become some of their signature songs:“Slogans , ” “ Veronica hate Me , ” “ Fathead ” and “ Kamal ’s Too Nice”(as well as a blanket of Johnny Nash ’s “ I Can See intelligibly ” ) .
Subsequent albums would see the band complicate the sound ( and see Vapid switch from guitar to basso ) , butMy Brain Hurtsis a groovy place to startwith SW — roll Stoneevennamed it one of the dear pop punk album of all time . SW continues to tour with Ben Weasel , with the only original member leave . Depending on youropinionof him and his arguing , you may catch them live or putMy Brain Hurtson repetition .
2Pansy Division
Undressed(1993)
One of pop punk ’s defining characteristic is that it ’s full of songs about being in making love . Pansy Division ’s debut album , 1993’sUndressed , is just that , with magical poppy track like “ Boyfriend Wanted , ” “ Bunnies , ” and “ Fem in a Black Leather Jacket . ” For those who retrieve punk rocker has to be all radical and insurgent , get wind guitarist Jon Ginoli sing “ Rock & Roll Queer Bar ” is the most punk thing ever .
In ’ 93 , homosexuality was still turn over taboo in America . “ We want to have joy , ” said Ginoli when discussingUndressed ’s thirtieth day of remembrance ( viaHollywood Life ) . Pansy Division wanted to “ present the joyful side ” of being gay instead of favouritism , the AIDS epidemic , and the other forms of oppressiveness the LGBTQ+ residential area face . “ I want to peach about the things that I had n’t hear being sung about , ” said Ginoli , “ and award them in a very life - affirming way at a time when a lot of hoi polloi ’s lives were being taken just because they were trying to love somebody . ”
3The Muffs
The Muffs(1993)
Rising out of the ashes of 1980s garage punk band The Pandoras , Kim Shattuck and Melanie Vammen recruited Ronnie Barnett and Chris Crass to form The Muffs . Their ego - titled introduction in ’ 93 was a multifaceted dad tinder phone . Shattuck has a grunge - esque maze in the record album opener , “ Lucky Guy . ” There are flourishes of option on “ Everywhere I Go ” and “ Baby Go Round , ” and pure punk frenzy on songs like “ bounteous Mouth . ”
Rising out of the ash of 1980s garage punk dance band The Pandoras , Kim Shattuck and Melanie Vammen recruited Ronnie Barnett and Chris Crass to take shape The Muffs .
The Muffs would regain succeeder later in the ' 90s with their covering of Kim Wilde ’s “ kid In America , ” which was featured on theCluelesssoundtrack . They ’d unblock a few more albums that tenner ( all worth checking out ) before have a brief hiatus at the start of the 2000s . Sadly , Kim Shattuck conk out in 2019 after a two - year struggle with ALS .
pappa - tough stay vibrant and relevant . These ten modernistic bands fuse innovation and custom , proving the genre ’s enduring solicitation and vitality .
4NOFX
Punk In Drublic(1994)
The same twelvemonth that Green Day put outDookie , NOFX liberate their fifth record album , Punk In Drublic . It ’s their most commercially successful album , but for a circle that fit their integral 40 - year career without signing with a major label , does that even matter ?
Punk In Drublicremains NOFX ’s best album .
lead off as a hard-core striation , NOFX shifted towards a melodic audio towards the remnant of the ‘ fourscore . Punk In Drublicis when they lock in and found the right balance wheel between apathy , serious-mindedness , and giddiness . From Orthodox hardcore muscle - head ( “ The Brews ” ) and punker - than - thou posers ( “ Punk Guy ” ) to family alienation ( “ Fleas ” ) and spiritual quandaries ( “ Happy Guy”)—not to note their most popular song , “ Linoleum”—Punk In Drublicremains NOFX ’s adept record album , even though they thinkSo Long And Thanks For All The Shoesis better .
5Smoking Popes
Born To Quit(1994)
During their initial succeeder , Green Day would mention Chicago ’s Smoking Vicar of Christ in interviews and had the band open their show at the Vic Theater on theDookietour . before long after , the band sign with Capitol , which re - let go their second record album , carry To Quit . Their song “ Need You Around ” was diddle on substitute radio , and their music appeared on the soundtracks forClueless , AngusandTommy Boy .
“ The fact that [ Born to Quit ] terminate up being caught up in that ’ 90s alternative rock movement and everything that go along with it matte up phantasmagorical , ” frontman Josh Caterer toldIllinois Entertainer . Caterer ’s crooner - esque vocal float above the energetic spunk song from Eli Caterer ( guitar ) , Matt Caterer ( basso ) , and Mike Felumlee ( drums ) , shun the bratty singing commonly associated with the genre . smoke Popes pulled a Taylor Swift in 2024 . WithBorn To Quitstill with Capitol Records , Smoking Popes re - register the album and released it as a live session .
6Descendents
Everything Sucks(1996)
In 1982 , Descendents releasedMilo Goes To College , right as lead singer Milo Auckerman … go to college . The stripe brook its first of many hiatuses as Milo pursued his studies , and the group returned in 1996 withEverything Sucks , their first record album in virtually a X .
“ I was getting a slight frustrated with my life doing science , there was something missing . That something was obviously medicine , ” Aukerman toldLollipopmagazine in ’ 96 . power by the receiving set single , “ I ’m the One,”Everything Suckshad Descendents embrace musical hardcore again — but this time with angsty call about workplace drama , running out of deep brown , and getting former .
Some superb pop music punk bands came and go with just one release , leaving fans forever wanting more .
Photo: Jonathan Weiner / Fat Wreck Chords
7The Bouncing Souls
The Bouncing Souls(1997)
With Green Day , The Offspring , NOFX , and Blink-182 establish in California ( and bands like smoke Popes and Screeching Weasel calling Chicago home ) , pop punk might come off stringently as a Midwest or Southern California sound . Such is n’t the example with The Bouncing Souls . New Jersey ’s favorite Son debut in the former ‘ 90s with a smattering of EPs ( later collected onThe Good , the Bad and the Argyle ) and released their debut LP , Maniacal Laughter , in ’ 96 . But their self - titled record album in ’ 97 is when they started to pick up steam .
New Jersey ’s preferent boy debuted in the early ‘ ninety with a handful of EPs .
Featuring the enchanting “ Say Anything ” ( which pack a mint of emotion into 1:16 ) and the hymn , “ East Coast ! shag you!,”Bouncing Souls ' vocal are unretentive and sweet . They ’d flesh their songs out at the end of the decade withHopeless Romanticand 2001’sHow I spend My Summer holiday , but ifyou want the link of pa and tinder , this is it .
8Sarge
The Glass Intact(1998)
Sarge ’s second record album , The Glass Intact , is a endearing showcase of ‘ 90s rock and roll . With a pop - punk base , Sarge — guitarist Elizabeth Elmore , bassist Rachel Switzky , and drummer Chad Romanski — incorporates sounds of alternate rock , Riot grrl , and East Bay thug / emo ( suppose Jawbreaker’s24 Hour Revenge Therapy ) . The song are a snatch longer and a act deeper .
“ Elmore ’s guitar playing is about angles and flurries of noise , about obstruction that turn on you up or crisp turns you make without thinking,”wrotecritic Greil Marcus in 1998 . “ You never know when the apparent pop song Sarge is playing will turn cruel — when the fun of their medicine will come clean , when the fun will grow out to be a matter of softening up someone in the song for revenge . Elmore keeps you guess , and she can make you nervous . ”
9Lagwagon
Let’s Talk About Feelings(1998)
Though pop thug was a year away from require “ What ’s My Age Again ? , ” some in the music genre were ready to rise up . Lagwagon’sLet ’s Talk About Feelings(their fifth album released in six twelvemonth ) bear on their melodic sound but saw them shift away from some of the stereotype of the soda water toughie genre . AsConsequence’s2008 reflexion on the record album land , “ there is n’t a single tune on here that crab about girls ” onLet ’s talking About notion .
The band also employs legal clip from flick likeJacob ’s LadderandWelcome To The Dollhouse , and shut down with “ Owen Meany , ” a song that cite John Irving ’s title character fromA Prayer For Owen Meanyand — get this — begins with a cello system . It shows howpop punk can expandits sound beyond the malls and skate parks .
2024 was a huge year for pop - spunk , with releases from old and new bands alike . Here is a leaning of the top 10 pop - punk albums in 2024 , rank .
10The Lillingtons
Death By Television(1999)
At the end of the ‘ XC , pop punk was at a crossroads . Some bands blow up ( Good Charlotte , Sum 41,Avril Lavigne , Jimmy Eat World , etc . ) while others got uncanny , like The Vindictives ’ construct albumHypno - Punko , andDeath By Televisionby Wyoming ’s The Lillingtons .
The Lillingtons ’ first album , 1996’Shit Out Of Luck , was distinctive pop hoodlum , with puerile subject like girls , gamey school and genitals . The band ( Kody Templeman , Tim O’Hara , and Cory Laurence ) shifted their lyrical and transonic focus withDeath By Television . The band recorded about retro sci - fi element while sticking to a rigid “ poesy - chorus - repeat - death ” birdsong structure that distilled pappa - punk down to its heart and soul elements .
Something about it penetrate with audiences , and the band enjoys a firm pursual to this mean solar day . The Lillingtons are mostly inactive due to other commitments ( Kody is now part of Teenage Bottlerocket ) . But they still come back from the void every once in a while .
