![]() ![]() Pop punk is punk rock’s bedazzled cousin, with a higher budget and more polish, making a comeback because of its digestibility. There was even a woman wearing nurse’s scrubs, who presumably arrived at the show after a shift at work next to a man wearing moldable elf ears. There were families - a small child wore headphones and sat on his father’s shoulders, grabbing his mother’s arm. The uniqueness of the crowd wasn’t limited to personal fashion choices or expression. There were even attendees wearing pink leggings and graphic tank tops, with their hair pulled back in ponytails. While some people dressed in all black with fishnet stockings and dark eyeliner, others wore snap-back caps and football jerseys. With the crowd-surfing, flying shoes and beach balls, the crowd was more impressive than the music. Their recent show at Pier 17 in New York, and many of their other tour dates, completely sold out. In doing so, the audience for the genre has widened.Ĭanadian pop-punk bands Sum 41 and Simple Plan have joined forces for the 21-year anniversary of “The Blame Canada Tour,” with new music and high-energy renditions of their early hits. With more non-male artists topping the charts, more people can relate to the musical style and lyricism behind each song. In this movement, all decades of pop-punk music are more accessible to everyone. They are not boxed into a specific style of music in the way that pop stars typically are. The genre has very little to do with any social movement, but its centering of teenage angst has offered women a space to be as loud and angry as they please - o r, if they choose, the opposite. Pop-punk, however, brings women to the forefront. The punk rock movement was incredibly male-dominated - so much so that women-led bands formed Riot Grrrl, a punk movement that formed in the ’90s. This genre of pop punk gains back what it loses to punk rock in reaction-driven, political lyrics with reliability and inclusivity. It’s pop punk that leads to spontaneously dancing around your apartment and belting out each lyric with reckless abandon. Sum 41, Avril Lavigne, Blink-182 and Green Day fall into this category. It is, however, more reminiscent of the pop-punk bands of the ’90s that gained more mainstream success. This is by no means the new wave punk scene of the ’70s, which was led by bands such as Ramones, The Clash, and The Sex Pistols. There is no doubt that Rodrigo’s shift to sonic turmoil resonates with the unpredictability that we feel - living through the pandemic, climate change, war and economic downfall, on top of navigating the unpredictability of young-adulthood. With her debut album titled “Sour,” Rodrigo abruptly switches steady rhythm for raucous grunge and distortion. Artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Willow Smith and Hayley Williams went from relatively unknown singers to complete superstars in 2020, using, in part, the more aggressive sound of pop punk. After three years of social and political upheaval, it’s no wonder that our popular music has a bit more angst in it. ![]()
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