Source: Jemma Dodd
90s kids picked up a lot from the era… mostly from the music. We learned about the scent of teen spirit, how to get down with the Backstreet Boys, not to chase waterfalls and MMMBop, which… well, we still don’t understand it, but, hey, it was catchy back then! But we learned (well, I did at least) most of our lessons from rock music, and more specifically (because it was the golden age of the genre), pop punk.
So here are some of the things we learned from pop punk that still exist in the genre today.
- Your friends come first – Relationships come and go, but nothing beats ill-thought-out teenage hijinks with your pals. And dating isn’t as fun as jamming in a dingy, sticker-filled garage with your best buds.
- Teenage angst is the realist – Being emo and moody and your parents not understanding a damn thing about it is a requirement of being a teenager. And pop punk sure as hell knows all about that.
- Who cares how you dress? – T-shirts over long sleeves, 3/4 length trousers, baggy clothes that don’t fit and bright coloured, spiky hair are just a few staples of the pop punk genre. And though they may seem horrible (and look horrible some of the time) pop-punk musicians have shown us that it’s okay to wear whatever you want.
- It doesn’t have to be in tune, it doesn’t have to make sense, and it doesn’t really have to be good – A lesson that has been taken from original DIY punk rock. The pop-punk genre is all about making music and expressing your angsty feelings—even if you don’t really know how to play your instruments that well.
- Nothing, not even your dull, dry hometown, can stop you from doing what you want – Want to start a band? Do it. Want to move to Hollywood and become a big star? Do it. Pop punk is all about giving you the freedom to take stupid risks.
- Growing up sucks – When you’re young, your biggest worry/problem is school. You get summers off and (though we don’t condone this) you can even ditch a couple lessons to go and do other things. But when you’re an adult, you can’t take a break from life—even though you’re the one who really needs it. Pop punk gave me some early I-don’t-want-to-adult lessons in reality.
- And because growing up sucks, stay immature. Life is more fun that way – Running naked around the streets is probably on the extreme end of that spectrum, but not acting your age is an important part of pop punk. Just look at these 35-year-old punk rockers still singing about their bitchy girlfriends and beloved childhood homies. Pop punk taught us all to see the stupider side of life.
- Everything, even a pop song, sounds better if it’s louder, faster and punkier – The pop punk touch.
There are many other lessons that pop punk taught us, but the main thing that still rings true today is, once an angsty, pop-punk-loving emo teen, always an angsty, pop-punk-loving emo teen… even if you’re 38.
