"Pop Punk" ??

Question

Alright. So I was talking to my friend today and I asked him if he likes The Offspring (one of the best bands ever!!). He said no, and I asked why. He said because "they're pop punk"-- I couldn't believe what I was hearing! They are far from it. I would call them more... mainstream punk I guess. When I hear of pop punk, I think of Sum 41 and Good Charolette, and The Offspring are about 50x better than both of those. Catagorizing them that is almost like an insult...

So anyway, does anyone out there who knows more about music genres and sub-genres than me care to intelligently disprove my friend?

"Nope, he's right. They're pop punk. 'Pretty Fly for a While Guy'? C'mon"

Yeah, maybe that particular song, but have you heard any of their other stuff like the songs "Staring At the Sun" or "Lightning Rod" ?? Definately punk. (Unless I am somehow proven wrong...)

Sal: I think alternative punk sounds about right.

Anna E: people (immature highschoolers especially) really do spend too much time arguing over what bands are defined as good. I think for the most part I do a pretty good job of respecting others' musical tastes.

Others: thank you for your input! ^_^

Answer 1

Pop punk is simply pop influenced, with generally upbeat music and a sing-along chorus, nothing more. Sum 41, GC, and that other crap are simply crap.

Bad Religion, The Descendents, and even NoFX are pop punk.

Though, to be fair, the Offspring did sell out when they left Epitaph for a deal with (Atlantic?) Epitaph gave them more creative freedom that the major label did, after they got the major label deal, their music all sounded the same to me.

Answer 2

Kids(or young adults...and some adults as loser-ish as it is!) spend way too much time getting wrapped up in labels. Labeling themselves, disputes over bands because someone thinks they can be grouped *here* , others think they can be grouped *there*...Tell your self-important friend to grow up and get over it. If a band makes good music and you like them, then they make good music and you like them. There's nothing more party-pooping than some jerk just crapping all over you because they believe they are the epitamy of all things music and what's cool. And they love to argue with anyone that does not agree. I had several friends like this when I was in high school... it got so old, they were so annoying and I'm not even friends with those people anymore because they just never grew up! grrr.... reliving some irritating past memories when I saw your question lol, sorry if I carried on way too much and this isn't like your friend! :P
Just do what you like, don't ask for opinions, and don't let people talk to you like you're stupid for liking the things you do.
By the way, I love the Offspring too!

Answer 3

Nope, he's right. They're pop punk,

Pretty Fly for a White Guy? C'mon.

Answer 4

This agrees with your friend also. In my opinion Pretty Fly for a White Guy put them in the Punk/Pop genre.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Offspring

Answer 5

no, i'd had to agree with your friend. the beginning of the end of punk rock was when the poppy punk rock bands started, I think you can trace the offsprings reason for being back to 7 seconds and the decendents...terrible what they did and we're still suffering from the effects of those bands to this day.

Answer 6

Ya, how many punk band have you heard with a chorus like the one in "why dont you get a job" More pop than punk id say

Answer 7

I remember hearing their stuff since 1994, so they've been around longer than good charolette. their album smash(1994) sounds like alternative punk to me. i don't know about their newer stuff, since I now only listen to heavy metal.

Answer 8

Rock... blink182 is also in the "pop-punk" category and I hate them. Green Day is also enlisted in the category, but they're my favorite band. I admit, their new stuff is whiney pop-punkish crap, but i like their old music.

Answer 9

they are not pop punk