pop punk

How I described pop punk kids in recent e-mail:

"The pop punk kids are so funny. It's like an identity crisis...am I a trendy prep, or a rebel punk? clean? dirty? They just end up looking stupid."

Pop punk is punk forking mainstream. Some pop punk is really good, but most of it sounds like watered down punk rock. Not to mention most startup pop punk bands suck, and are completely unoriginal. They're all about trying to look cool and act punk, rather than startup punk bands who tend to be in it for the music and the scene.

Fun Size is the only pop punk band that comes to mind who I respect, I'm sure there are a few others though...

"Pop punk" is not only pathetic, but it's also an oxymoron. All the bands dream of fame, riches, and an appearance on MTV. 'Punk' was never supposed to be mainstream. It was mainly underground, and had an original sound. Now all these angsty teens are making bands for other angsty teens to listen to. Like Blink-182 for example. They ruined the 'punk scene'. They used to make good music, up until they hit MTV. Now every kiddy out there thinks they're some anarchist non-conformist skater punk. Pretty sad if you ask me.

People who (I think) ruined the punk scene:

• Blink 182
• New Found Glory
• Green Day
• Offspring
• MxPx
• Sum 41
• Avril Lavigne
• Editors of MTV

...and all the people who listen to them!

But that's ok, being 'punk' is only a fad. It'll die out soon and the kids will find other MTV stars to idolize. I can only imagine country music becoming a fad. A bunch of middle-schoolers dressing in plaid and wearing cowboy boots. Mini Garth Brooks' all over the place! Scary, isn't it? (Sorry if you're sick of all these damn punk rock writeups.)

Punk is not dead. (But it's been watered down like softcore pornography!)

Edit 10/16/04: Wow, I just stumbled upon this old node I wrote and don't even remember writing it. It's a littler rash--Sorry if I offended anyone. Either way, I suggest listening to "Chickenshit Conformist" by The Dead Kennedys. That song sums up everything you need to know about the "punk" scene. Well, at least in my opinion.

There are lots of bands jumping on the pop punk bandwagon alright... and along with that, comes lots and lots of people who diss them because they think "they're not true punk". Come on, get a grip: if you consider the Sex Pistols was a publicity stunt for Malcolm McLaren's clothes store (named Sex, hence the name Sex Pistols), who gathered four or so guys who had questionable musical skills (I don't care if it's necessary in punk rock or not, it's just the ideology since that's what's most people are looking for)... you can't really say there is such a thing like "punk was always meant to be underground". McLaren's antics grabbed the attention of the media just like a pot of honey attracted bugs.

Surely enough, it was good to showcase a new look and style on rock music. But revolutionary and underground it wasn't. You see, I'm living proof: when I was younger, I used to like Green Day. Then I got a bit annoyed of all the they-are-not-punk thing, and ended up trading their CDs. Today I think they're pretty good musicians who never needed to live under the shadow of previous punk rockers. Lots of people end up missing out on fairly good music because of racehorse ideologies. You know, when they put on those stuff to cover the horses' lateral view... they only see one way. And don't give me that "yeah, but they only look frontwards" crap...