Pop punk : Ask Biography

Music genre

Name

Pop punk

Stylistic origins

Punk rock, pop, surf rock, power pop, garage rock, new wave

Cultural origins

Mid-1970s United States, United Kingdom, Canada and other countries

Typical instruments

Vocals - Electric guitar - Bass - Drums - Occasional use of other instruments (such as keyboards)

Mainstream popularity

Various degrees of commercial success since the late 1970s; massive international commercial success in the 1990s and 2000s

Other topics

List of pop punk bands - Post-punk -
Skate punk - Ska punk - Alternative rock - Melodic hardcore

Home | Music Genre | Pop punk

Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars. About.com has described contemporary pop punk bands as having "a radio friendly sheen to their music, but still maintaining much of the speed and attitude of classic punk rock".

It is not clear when the term pop punk was first used, but pop-influenced punk rock had been around since the mid- to late-1970s. An early use of the term pop punk appeared in a 1977 New York Times article, "Cabaret: Tom Petty's Pop Punk Rock Evokes Sounds of 60s". In the mid-1990s, the California pop punk bands Green Day and The Offspring, who were later followed by Blink-182, would all achieve worldwide commercial success. From the mid-1990s onwards, some bands associated with the genre have been described as "happy punk", "faux-punk", "mall punk", "pseudo-punk" or "bubblegum punk".