10 Pop-Punk Artists On Their Essential Pop-Punk Tracks

Back in the early 2000s when Hot Topic was the place to shop and emo haircuts were all the rage, pop-punk was also experiencing its golden age. Artists like The All-American Rejects, New Found Glory, Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, and Something Corporate were at their height, fusing the punk ethos of bands like The Ramones into the mainstream. Of course, these bands were able to thrive thanks to some predecessors of pop-punk, ensuring there was a space for ragged riffs to coincide with pop hooks. Seeing artists like Green Day and blink-182 maintain their edge while signing to major labels helped solidify the existence of the pop-punk genre and translate it into a viable career.

From The All-American Rejects to Simple Plan, NYLON spoke to some of the best pop-punk bands of the early 2000s about the most influential pop-punk songs — as well as the ones they wish they had written themselves.

Tyson Ritter, The All-American Rejects

What pop-punk song do you think is most influential and why?

Being a kid from a little trailer park in the middle-of-nowhere Oklahoma, I discovered pop-punk as it fell out of open car doors in headlight-lit field parties. CDs were a luxury, so any current music for me was something I had to be within earshot of, or hope my local radio station was going to put into rotation. I’m sure you will have a grocery list of obscure and deeply unearthed bands submitted for this, but speaking from the personal viewpoint of having never heard punk of any kind before, one song sticks out. When “What’s My Age Again?” by blink-182 came on that radio, the “pop” in pop-punk was cemented into pop culture. MTV was still burning on all cylinders, and the music video that accompanied the song was nothing short of iconic, albeit adolescent: three naked guys running around not acting their age and singing mom jokes? What did I care, I was f*cking 14, and that song hit me dead center mast. I’d say it was most influential in that it completely influenced an audience of young boys in Oklahoma who sought a voice for post-pubescent angst, and Blink wrote the siren song.

Which pop-punk song do you wish you had written and why?

I heard the Ramones — all of it, brilliant — but one song was magical to me in a way that the others didn’t feel like: “Bonzo Goes To Bitburg.” According to Wikipedia, the track is an emotionally charged commentary on the Bitburg Controversy of 1985 in which U.S. President Ronald Regan had paid a state visit to a German World War ll cemetery where numerous Waffen-SS soldiers were buried. But when I was 18, I didn’t give a damn what was being sung, I just knew that the song was beautiful and full of melody and production that I loved. I was the Tin Man and this song gave me a heart. Wish I wrote it.

Dan Whitesides, The Used

What pop-punk song do you think is most influential and why?

Green Day changed the face of not only pop-punk but music in general so I guess I’d have to say their song “Longview.” That song and their album Dookie changed everything for pop-punk. It opened the door for tons of bands and it changed people's lives, including mine.

Which pop-punk song do you wish you had written and why?

That’s a hard question to answer. Pop-punk means so many different things to me. That being said, if I had to choose one song that I wish we wrote from a “pop-punk” band, I would have to choose “Blister in the Sun” by Violent Femmes. That entire album is timeless, and that song is amazing.

William Ryan Key, Yellowcard

What pop-punk song do you think is most influential and why?

Green Day’s “Basket Case.” I don’t think when Dookie released in 1994, there was widespread use of the phrase "pop-punk." I’ve often struggled with the term myself because I feel like so many artists that are pop-rock get labeled as pop-punk. The thing about Green Day is that they have always been and always will be punk. They were punks in a garage, and they are punks in stadiums now. “Basket Case” had success at radio that, in my opinion, no punk-rock band had ever achieved. Dookie paved the way for an entire movement of pop-punk music that followed for the next decade.

Which pop-punk song do you wish you had written and why?

I’ll never forget the first time I heard “Anthem Part Two” by blink-182. The snare drum sounded like a shotgun. The sparkly clean guitar riff was such a different sound for a punk song. That whole record blew my mind at the time, but I’ve always put a lot of stock in album openers, and that song may be the best of any pop-punk record ever made.

Jack Barakat, All Time Low

What pop-punk song do you think is most influential and why?

I gotta go with [blink-182’s] "What's My Age Again?” Every part of the song, from the riff to the melody and lyrics, is so signature. It was also released at a time when bands like blink-182 and Sum 41 were rivaling the superstardom of pop stars like Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys. Riding off the wave of that song and many others, blink-182 created an entire era of musicians (including us) who felt like they could not only create pop-punk, but do it for a living.

Which pop-punk song do you wish you had written and why?

If I had to pick a deep cut song, I would probably choose "Anthem Part Two." I was going into high school when this album came out, and the song represented all the teen angst I felt inside. The first concert I ever went to was the Pop Disaster Tour featuring Green Day and blink-182. I'll never forget the moment when Blink took the stage, and as the curtain opened, Tom DeLonge began playing the riff from "Anthem Part Two.” My life was changed forever.

JT Woodruff, Hawthorne Heights

What pop-punk song do you think is most influential and why?

Green Day’s “Basket Case.” When I first heard this song, I had not even started playing guitar yet. Somehow I could tell that the chord progression was complex, yet attainable. The perfect combination of basic, yet symphonic. I love the strumming pattern there as well. There are a few little nuances and string scrapes that make it perfectly ragged, which is why it’s punk. Green Day gave me hope in my teenage years, which gave me the courage to start playing the guitar. This is the song that did it.

Which pop-punk song do you wish you had written and why?

I wish we had written “Face to Face” by Disconnected. I’ve always wanted to be a lot punker than I am, but I could never cross the threshold. Being from a small town in West Virginia is what never allowed me to cross the line, which is why pop-punk was more my world. In the mid-90s I discovered “Face to Face” on a compilation CD and fell in love. The vocal delivery, the bass line, and the octave guitar chords really hook me with this one. [It’s] the perfect anthem for touring up and down the California coast, which is exactly the dream I eventually wanted to chase. When you listen to this song, it sounds like everything is perfectly pissed off, yet melodically united together, with one goal in mind. “STAY OUTTA MY WAY.” Sometimes you need a song like this to start your day. In fact, it was a song I feel started my life in a great direction.”

Ryan Phillips, Story of the Year

What pop-punk song do you think is most influential and why?

I think most punk/pop-punk purists or historians would say that “Blitzkrieg Bop” by The Ramones sort of paved the way for punk music to crossover into the mainstream, but for my generation I would have to pick “Longview” by Green Day. I remember seeing that video on MTV when I was super young, and it was one of the first times I saw a “rock star” or band playing songs that my friends and I could have written: lyrics about masturbation sung over predictable, simplistic chord progressions. It was instantly relatable [and] incredibly hooky. “Longview” was too aggro to be pop, too mainstream to be true punk-rock, but it just hit this sweet spot in the middle that really turned the pop-punk thing into a cultural worldwide phenomenon. It was a genre-defining moment.

Which pop-punk song do you wish you had written and why?

“The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World. That song, album, and band are timeless in a way that many of even the most popular and influential pop-punk songs just aren’t. In my humble opinion, that song could have been written yesterday, tomorrow, or 20 years ago. It could be played acoustically, or even on a piano with some ingenuity. It’s just a timeless, shining light in that genre.

Anthony Raneri, Bayside

What pop-punk song do you think is most influential and why?

It would be impossible to ignore the impact of “Basket Case” [by Green Day]. I would say that it was the introduction to punk-rock or pop-punk for a good portion of the bands that have done it since. It also blew the doors open for major labels and the mainstream to accept bands like blink-182 and New Found Glory, and later Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance. If not for “Basket Case,” I don’t know if those bands even exist let alone crack into the mainstream.

Which pop-punk song do you wish you had written and why?

“May 16” by Lagwagon. Lagwagon is my favorite punk band. There are a lot of punk bands that embody the spirit of punk but the best ones write great songs within that spirit: songs that would be great if you played them on an acoustic guitar or a piano. This is one of the best.

Joshua Cain, Motion City Soundtrack

What pop-punk song do you think is most influential and why?

"Basket Case" by Green Day. This song was one of the first songs that the masses would hear that was by some punk-rock dudes but also was so full of pop hooks. [It] inspired me to stand in front of my mirror and play along and pretend I was on stage rocking out.

Which pop-punk song do you wish you had written and why?

"Knowledge" By Operation Ivy. This was one of the first songs I got obsessed with. I first heard this song on some skate video during the Matt Hensley segment. After that, my friends and I would blast this song on repeat. It spoke to me and the way I was feeling about life: “All I know is that I don't know / All I know is that I don't know nothing."

Pierre Bouvier and Chuck Comeau, Simple Plan

What pop-punk song do you think is most influential and why?

PB: It’s a toss-up between “Basket Case” by Green Day and “What’s My Age Again?” by blink-182. Both songs paved the way for all the pop-punk bands, like us, that followed in the early 2000s. “Basket Case” in 1994 was a huge hit and exposed the world to that angsty punk attitude combined with catchy melodies and hooky lyrics. Then in 1999, “What’s My Age Again?” pushed the pop side even further and was all over mainstream and pop radio around the world. You couldn’t turn the dial without hearing it.

Which pop-punk song do you wish you had written and why?

PB: The Descendents’ “I’m The One.” This one is a little more punk than pop, but I remember being blown away when I heard it for the first time in 1997. I love Milo [Aukerman’s] growly vocals and the ripping guitars throughout the song. It’s catchy, but badass and makes you want to jump around in the mosh pit with your fists in the air.

What pop-punk song do you think is most influential and why?

CC: I absolutely agree with Pierre that it’s a tie between “Basket Case” and “What’s My Age Again?” for the two most influential pop-punk songs of all time. These two bands and songs changed everything for the pop-punk community and have defined the sound of the last 20 to 25 years of the scene. But to make it more fun, I’m gonna ignore these two and offer two alternatives: “Self-Esteem” by The Offspring, released in 1994 just like Dookie by Green Day, and “American Jesus” by Bad Religion, that came out in 1993. Smash, The Offspring’s album, sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and catapulted punk indie label Epitaph on top of the world, allowed them to sign and bring to mainstream success bands like Rancid and NOFX, fueling the rise of pop-punk and setting up the second explosion in 1999 when blink-182 released Enema of the State. And Bad Religion influenced all these bands years before: Recipe for Hate, their 1993 album, was their first release on Atlantic after leaving Epitaph, giving pop-punk bands the permission to sign to major labels and aim for mainstream success.

Which pop-punk song do you wish you had written and why?

CC: There’s so many amazing pop-punk songs I wish I had written, and this is such a difficult question to answer. I hesitated between “Linoleum” or “Lori Meyer” from NOFX’s classic Punk In Drublic album, “Move Along” by The All-American Rejects (I got shivers down my spine when I first heard that chorus... so powerful and emotional) or even The Ataris’ iconic “San Dimas High School Football Rules,” but at the end of the day, the one song I always go back to as my favorite is “Going Away To College” by blink-182. It’s my favorite off Enema of the State, an album that completely changed my life. I remember coming home with an advanced copy of the record that Mark Hoppus gave to me a few months before it was released, and I knew after one listen that it would change the whole game. That song was so poignant and powerful to me. I never understood why they didn’t release it as a single. I think it would have been an incredible fourth single and would have made the band even bigger — if that’s even possible.