Pop Punk

Pop punk (also known as punk pop) is a fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. It is not clear when the term pop punk was first used, but pop-influenced punk rock had been around since the 1970s, performed by bands such as the Ramones, Buzzcocks, The Jam, The Undertones and Descendents. Bad Religion, who started in 1980, was another early band to play the genre, and some consider them godfathers of pop punk.

In the mid 1990s, Southern California-based pop punk bands achieved worldwide commercial success, and the genre's association with that area has led some to the term "SoCal sound". From the mid 1990s onwards, some bands associated with the genre have been described as faux-punk, mall punk, pseudo-punk, bubblegum punk or surf punk.

Many pop punk artists rejected mainstream record labels in favour of running their own labels or releasing albums on small independent labels, such as Lookout! Records, Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph Records. Many of these bands built large cult followings in the early 1990s, such as Bad Religion, NOFX, Propagandhi , The Queers, Mr. T Experience and Screeching Weasel, and were musically influenced by The Ramones' short song style and lyrical themes, such as boredom, dissatisfaction and growing older. However, some pop punk bands have expressed political themes in their lyrics, such as Propagandhi, Bad Religion and NOFX.

This description is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses materials from the Wikipedia article "Pop punk".