Pop Punk Isn’t Even Close to Dying

Rock fans that don’t like pop punk, really, really don’t like pop punk. You know this because they’re as vocal as possible about it. It pins devotees and doubters to either side of an extreme argument. You either think it’s only for people who still cum from hand jobs or you’re so enamoured with the sunny, nostalgic subculture that you wear your cap backwards, save up for Warped Tour and will forever class blink-182 as your favourite band whilst hashtagging every music-related tweet with #defendpoppunk.

There are infinite reasons for why it attracts so much sniggering derision. Here are a few:

A) Youth culture and MTV was in love with the Cali skater dream in the Golden Age of Dickies and Deryck Whibley. It was cool to be uncool. Then it was just very, very uncool. No one likes stuff after it’s mainstream.

B) It’s the genre everyone still associates with immaturity and fucking dogs in the ass.

C) For people of my generation, it stands for a time when you loved music so fiercely, and were strapped into the rollercoaster of hormonal emotions so tightly that it embarrasses you to even be reminded.

Perhaps, against all odds, there are enough pop punk lovers to warrant New Found Glory touring the UK a week or so ago, with a whole host of bands of that ilk, in what promised to be the biggest pop punk party of the year. As Chad Gilbert, NFG’s guitarist, proudly told the audience on the Friday night in Kentish Town Forum, the tour (which had run in the US previously) was in the UK because the fans wanted it.

It was called the Pop Punk’s Not Dead Tour. It didn’t really need to be called that. The fans in attendance would probably follow the genre to its melodic grave or theirs. But in stating it so boldly, and with a hint of paranoia, it helped tell the narrative of exactly how and why that’s the case.

First on the bill were Dublin based Only Rivals. Even last year, having a British or Irish pop punk band on this tour might not have happened. Pop punk has always belonged to America, but this year, this has notably changed and some talented young from our side of the Atlantic, like OR, have come racing to the fore. Neck Deep are another: a bunch of lads from Wales signed to Hopeless Records, whose roster includes New Found Glory and The Wonder Years. They put out a promising debut, Wishful Thinking, won Kerrang! Best British Newcomer and then went on Warped as one of the most hyped and anticipated bands of the tour. Last month, Eastbourne-based ROAM had a similar successful start signing to Hopeless Records, and their album, penned for 2015, will keep the genre very much alive and well over here, at the very least.

Pop punk critics like to suggest that the music is so restricted by its defining characteristics that it’s struggled to adapt and evolve as fully as some other genres. But Candy Hearts and The Story So Far have disproved that pop punk is more than a generic sample track about hometowns and best friends. The former are the antithesis to everything grey and unfeeling. They’re on one extreme of the pop punk spectrum; a first crush in aural form. Their mushy, sickly sweet songs recall teen era dates and hanging out with boys; a sentiment that’s rarely explored in music in 2014 (because feelings, ew). When they played, girls were crying in the front row.

At the other end of the spectrum, you have The Story So Far, who have pushed the genre to its most aggressive ends. You could see in the eyes of the guys that had now powered to the front, that when “Daughters” came on, they were lucidly recalling the moment a girl cheated on them at a house party.

If anything, these bands served as a reminder that pop punk is evolving and expanding in ways beyond the stereotype. I had my eyes open for tragic adult men that hadn’t gotten over their teenage years, and I’m pleased to say I didn’t find any. Instead, it’s staying relevant and attracting a fresh wave of young fans. One look at the teenage faces around the room when State Champs played “Elevated”, the pop-punk anthem of 2014, would confirm that.

If there’s any reason pop punk will survive, the deep family-like connections is a big one. The Story So Far take their name from a New Found Glory song. ROAM is taken from a The Story So Far song. Even All Time Low’s band name is a quote from “Head On Collison” by New Found Glory. It’s a pop-punk tapestry of influence and both historical and emotional connections. They help each other out, work on each other’s records, and respect the weight of what has come before. That isn’t going to change.

New Found Glory, aside from being genre giants, have been integral to its health. They’ve kick-started many careers over their years, considering themselves mentors to various bands. On this tour alone, the State Champs’ record, The Finer Things, was produced by Steve Klein ex-NFG. Chad Gilbert of NFG was a fan of Candy Hearts so signed them to his record label. In fact, the band put the US tour together originally to promote and give a platform for younger pop-punk bands. If pop punk is indeed a family, then NFG are the loyal and doting fathers.

Their very survival is a pop-punk miracle. Still going after 17 years, having survived huge exposure as well as fleeting hype, plus fan anger over signing to a major label in the early 2000s, and poor support from their label when MTV didn’t want to play their videos in 2006. Their biggest challenge yet was this year when they broke up with Steve Klein, the guitarist and lyricist, after personal conflicts and sex crime allegations he was facing in December 2013. This album, aptly titled Resurrection, was their first record as a four-piece.

Before the show, my friend and photographer, Adrian, told me when he watched NFG once years ago, Chad had said that as long as they had a single fan listening to their songs, they wouldn’t give up being a band. Maybe that’s true. And this tour goes to show: while they are around, pop punk isn’t going anywhere.

A final fleeting reminder of pop-punk’s health came bouncing onto the stage in all her orange-bobbed glory for “My Friends Over You”. It was Hayley Williams, Chad’s long-term girlfriend, and vocalist of pop-punk band Paramore. She is a woman that’s given a female face to pop punk. The first recipient of the new Trailblazer Award at this year’s Billboard’s Women in Music Awards. Just Friday, Paramore’s song “Ain’t It Fun” was nominated for a Grammy. She’s not only recognised by the specific community she’s a part of, but now the wider mainstream music world as borderline iconic, as written by our own Emma Garland.

With Hayley riding around the stage on Chad’s shoulders, the sweethearts of pop punk, it is implausible that the genre is anything but full of life. If the intent of the tour was to prove it hasn’t died a death, it succeeded in every way possible – promoting new talent from both sides of the water, and bringing a community together for a night of pure fun and old nostalgic classics. Shout out to everyone doggedly hating pop punk, but unfortunately for you, next time the tour is revived, NFG might not have to disprove their demise.

You can follow Hannah on Twitter: @hannahrosewens