and the follow up, you BROKE my EMPIRE.

Again, it's hard for me to put my finger on what I dislike about the genre. I'm not saying you shouldn't like it or even that it isn't a good song.

I guess something about the vocal just seems performative. Like a theater kid who is more interested in applause than expressing real emotion.

A song like "New Partner" or "Flashes and Cables" is just so much more sincere and emotionally powerful.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

I'm a big fan (Big Fan?) of pop punk. Bands I like are Riddlin' Kids, SR-71, Goldfinger, Less than Jake, Reel Big Fish, Teenage Bottlerocket, Alkaline Trio, New Found Glory, Bouncing Souls among others. Some of these bands are more punk-ska and some are probably more punk than pop punk but it's a style I dig and have for the past 30 years, I'd guess.

I never really considered Gaslight Anthem pop punk until I heard the lead singer on the podcast of Less than Jake's lead guitarist and vocalist Chris Demakes on his podcast when they talked about their song 45. 45 definitely is a pop punk song.

Certainly, Blink-182's Dude Ranch is different than their more commercial stuff. Not sure if they changed producers between Dude Ranch and their other stuff, but the sound is different. And over time, their sound changed, too. Same with Green Day.

Pop-punk is a mile wide and an inch deep, I feel. All those bands can come up with a good song, but I'd never feel compelled to explore them deeper. blink-182 is an exception; they had a handful of catchy songs and they're a band of my childhood so I'm biased. I think there's a real craftsmanship to coming up with a great three-chord, three-minute song that's also high-energy, melodic, and memorable. Probably why most of those bands can't do it more than once.

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Pop Punk is an outstanding genre of music. It is extremely consumable. You can eat it up and be done with it and before you know it you are on to the next bad or song. I've listened to all of it and pretty much liked all of it except when it got too soft and emo infused like say Cartel. I tend to like the bands that are a little harder but stay melodic with the vocals like Sum 41, Ryan's Hope, Direct Hit, Alkaline trio, Off with their heads and the lawrence arms and teenage bottlerocket. Simple Plan does the theme for a scooby doo series and bowling for soup does a chuck e cheese commercial so you can tell the bands that want 3 chords and a paycheck vs actually making something respectable. I got into screaching weasel early on so i have a soft place in my heart for anything that sounds like their weird suburban ramones sound.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Don’t forget Nerf Herder, who did the Buffy theme.

^

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Who sang, "It's terror time again!" on Scooby Doo and Zombie Island? It was pretty funny.

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I am listening to John and Steve call a White Sox baseball game.

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Hawaii (fuck) You