Think that pop-punk is only for sad early 2000’s teenagers? Think again! Although the genre often focuses on dark, somber themes, it is also sometimes just sheer, unadulterated fun, quite often focusing on partying or skating. That being said, pop-punk also has a way of making even seemingly moody songs seem upbeat sometimes, hiding their lyrical content underneath a fun blast of plucky guitars and raging drums – making it the perfect genre to blast out in the hot summer sun.
To get you started, are five songs which encapsulate pop-punk as the epitome of summer music for me. While all of them bring something different to the table, ultimately you will absolutely be missing out if they don’t make your summer playlists in future.
5. Machine Gun Kelly – ‘concert for aliens’ (from ‘Tickets To My Downfall’, 2020)
While Cleveland hitmaker Colson “Machine Gun Kelly” Baker never strays too far from controversy, what shouldn’t be in disrepute is that his 2020 single ‘concert for aliens’ is a monster summer tune. Taking all the best bits from the era, the Travis Barker-produced track clearly heavily takes inspiration from Barker’s blink-182 album ‘Take Off Your Pants and Jacket’. While the song itself lyrically doesn’t relate much to the season, instead focusing on Kelly’s desire to be taken to a different life by aliens, its madcap extraterrestrial imagery combined with fun, bouncy production makes it a lot of fun to listen to. “The food sucked and the kids were awful / I know you wanted me to go to law school” are frankly a ridiculous set of lines, but they do so knowingly, making clear that it really shouldn’t be taken too seriously – something that critics of the genre too often ignore.
4. Matt Willis – ‘Crash’ (2007)
Perhaps a bit of a wildcard choice, then-former Busted vocalist/bassist Matt Willis released this cover of The Primitives’ 1988 song ‘Crash’ in the late 2000’s for the film ‘Mr. Bean’s Holiday’ – a line that could easily be from a strange edition of Mad Libs! Leaning more on the ‘pop’ side of pop-punk, Willis’ cover expertly transforms the 80’s classic, which sounds made for the genre with it’s blink-esque “nanananana” sections, into a brilliantly edgy, yet free-spirited anthem which it seems destined to always become. To me, it’s an absolute triumph in comparison to the original which sounds muted in comparison, which makes it all the more disappointing that Willis’ solo career was cut short not long after this single only managed to reach #31 in the UK charts.
3. Grayscale – ‘Atlantic’ (from ‘Adornment’, 2017)
Back to the aforementioned “save pop-punk” era now. In the early 2010’s, pop-punk was in a strange place. After the late 2000’s success of bands such as All Time Low and Boys Like Girls, it generally disappeared from the mainstream for the first time since it really broke through there in the mid-90’s with Green Day. However, until the likes of Machine Gun Kelly and WILLOW brought it back to where it belonged in the mainstream, bands such as Neck Deep, Knuckle Puck and The Story So Far gloriously held the fort. With Grayscale being a slightly later addition to these, these bands are generally considered to be more more lyrically introspective and moody than their genre predecessors. However, that is not to say they can’t make some absolute summer bangers, with the best of these being ‘Atlantic’. Lyrically, it focuses on a desire for of wanting to be taken to the titular Atlantic Ocean, somewhere to escape from hometown fears and worries, with its pop-based production gives it a contrasting sense of hope. Although you do have to turn a bit of a deaf ear to the lyrics to properly enjoy it as a ‘summer banger’, it gets a spot on my list down to how summer-ready the song’s infectiously joyous instrumental performance sounds.
2. Patent Pending – ‘Therefore I Party’ (from ‘Attack of the Awesome!!!’, 2009)
Always slightly on the verge of breaking through but never quite getting there, New York band Patent Pending released this party anthem as part of an EP in 2009. Slightly sloppily mixed, that early-years charm works in the song’s favour as it gives a slightly scrappy edge that compliments its subject matter. Above all, it’s perhaps one of the most feel-good songs out there, with its lyrics focusing on today simply being “the best day that we ever had”, realising that there’s still “good left in this world”. All this is truly characterised by the song’s use of ‘gang’ vocals, giving it a chant-worthy, ‘party’ feel in itself; one that makes you feel desperate to join whatever parties the folks from Patent Pending may be out.
1. Less Than Jake – ‘All My Best Friends Are Metalheads’ (from ‘Hello Rockview’, 1998)
Yes, this may rather be categorised as a ‘ska-punk’ song rather than truly ‘pop-punk’, but Less Than Jake‘s 1998 song is placed on enough pop-punk playlists and compilation albums for me to count it here. In itself, ska and pop-punk are also both pretty good genres to blast out in the summer sun, but this combination of them both creates so fun that little else can come close to its crown. Opening with a spoken-word sample from American radio personality Victor Lundberg, the song asks people to consider teenagers as more than “drunken dope addicts or glue sniffers”, with an overarching theme of unison essentially being the song’s message. Why don’t the 90’s punk and metal scenes not get along together? Well, mosh with Less Than Jake and let them address that in a perfectly positive way, helped out by the band’s trademark bouncy mix of ska and rock instrumentals. Trust me, once you let their trumpets blast out while going out for a warm summer drive, you won’t want to spend another second without these legends in your life.
