No 7: Pop-punk goes everywhere edition đ¤
âŚannnnndddd weâre back.
Over the holidays I finally watched Everybodyâs Everything, the surprisingly moving 2019 doc about Lil Peep who died in 2017. Peepâs an artist Iâd admired from afar but Iâd never taken the time to dive into his discography.
I had always understood his music (and overall visual aesthetic) to be a blender of genres. Notably, he was tagged emo-rap early on in his short career. But one of the things that I was most struck by was how his music was as rooted in pop-punk as it was hip-hop. âKissâ the first Lil Peep song that I heard samples an early Modern Baseball track and in the doc Rob Cavallo, who produced pop-punk totems by Green Day, Jawbreaker and My Chemical Romance as well as working with Lil Peep, talked about this mix of influences. But it all came together for me hearing the acoustic version of âWalk Away as the Door Slamsâ that appears in the film (the original version is on the 2016 mixtape Hellboy). Here, the cadence of Peepâs nasal wine paired with the acoustic guitar have little relation to hip-hop. If you didnât know who wrote it, youâd swear it was a Brand New demo.
Of course, this is hardly a revelation to the rest of the world: if Iâd paid any attention to Lil Peepâs musical arc, his affection for these genres was well-documented. He sampled Brand New and covered Blink-182 and Everyoneâs Everything also includes a montage set to Peep lip-synching Sum 41âs âFat Lipâ. But it got me thinking about how mutable pop-punk has been over the last decade and a half. Itâs not that artists from other genres are starting pop-punk bands. Itâs that theyâve absorbed pop-punk into other genres to a point where itâs difficult to tell where its influence begins and ends. Today, the sounds, tropes and structures of pop-punk are inescapable, heard (and seen) in places that even 10 years ago, few would have ever guessed possible.
Traditional pop-punk (if there can be said to be such a thing) still exists of course. The genreâs giants like Green Day, Blink-182 and Fall Out Boy are all still active and continue to loom large. Newer pop-punk bands have yet to reach those bandâs mid-oughts heights. But it remains a vibrant space with new bands (and fans) growing like weeds. Some of my recent favourites include Hot Mulligan, Pinkshift and Glacier Veins, not to mention Canadian crews Talk Show Host and Seaway, and labels like Take This to Heart, Pure Noise and No Sleep. The scene, as they say, is alive and well.
By the mid-2000s the genre, or at least the slick, multi-tracked guitars version pioneered by Blink-182, had already been absorbed into mainstream pop production. Even as groups like Blink, FOB, My Chemical Romance and Sum 41 positioned themselves in opposition to the then-dominant boy-bands, singers like Avril Lavigne, Ashlee Simpson, Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan âborrowedâ their sound (and a fraction of their already diluted attitude) and took it all the way to the top of the charts (probably the bank too). Now a new generation of critically acclaimed artists like Soccer Mommy, Pale Waves and Snail Mail are paying homage to this sound, and namechecking the very pop artists those same critics snubbed some 15-20 years ago.
Few styles have teenage alienation as baked into their DNA as pop-punk. Itâs why critics who, speaking from personal experience, are generally older and jaded, tend to ignore it. But thereâs a rich seam to be mined in singing about hating your parents/your small town/the lover that spurned you. English upstart Yungblud is a lot to take if youâre over the age of 18, but heâs certainly mastered this niche.
More palatable for my tastes are Kansas City trio Blackstarkids who throw 90s and 00s pop-culture into a blender and come up with sweet, sticky hooks. The chorus on âActing Normalâ the first song on last yearâs fun Whatever, Man could easily have been sung by Blink-182âs Mark Hoppus.
Then thereâs the post-everything stylings of 100 Gecs. Theyâve got a brain stew of influences at work, but pop-punk is certainly one of their foundational elements. Just to hammer home the point, they enlisted none other than Fall Out Boy (along with Craig Owens of mid-oughts post-hardcore outfit Chiodos and Nicole Dollanganger) for a cover/remix of âHand Crushed by a Mallet.â Even in this bonkers take on the track, the pop-punk influence is undeniable.
Back when streaming was just emerging as the de facto way we would listen to music, many hoped for a new era where weird and interesting new sounds would bubble to the top. Instead, we got the monogenre and Spotifycore. Yet, the kind of melding of genres (and subgenres) that Iâve outlined above wouldnât be possible without easy access to Every Song Ever. Iâd argue it splits the difference between the two extremes and frankly, Iâm here for it.
Kool Kids Music Reco Club
Iâm still playing catch-up, checking out some of the artists who ended up on year-end lists that I missed. One such artist was Chicagoâs Beach Bunny. At their core, theyâre playing a version of blown-out girl-group garage rock that bands like Vivian Girls, Best Coast and Dum Dum Girls made famous in the early 2010s. But theyâve managed to carve out space for themselves without coming across as nostalgic for any particular era. Following last yearâs terrific Honeymoon, they dropped the single âGood Girls (Donât Get Used)â which will be included on the groupâs new Blame Game EP, out January 15th.
Over the last few years, Jeremy Hunter (pronouns: they/them) has made a name for themselves as a one-person cover-band behind Skatune Network, giving dozens of pop, punk, rock and even film scores a ska makeover. These covers tend to follow the ska template laid down by late 90s luminaries like Less than Jake and Reel Big Fish. But as Hunter branches out, performing original music on his own as JER, theyâre more influenced but what they call âindieâ punk artists like Jeff Rosenstock and Pup. Theyâve only got three solo tracks so far, of which âBreaking News! Local Punk Doubts Existence of Systemic Racismâ is probably the best. Itâs got me very curious to see what they do next đ
For some reason in the late 90s and early 2000s, audiences were particularly enamored with a very tourist-friendly version of Irish popular culture. Think Riverdance, Michael Flatley, and Billy Elliot. Adjacent to this whole thing were the Corrs, an Irish fiddle-pop (a genre I just made up) family band who combined traditional Irish-folk and modern pop. They were freaking huge.
I write all this because just before the holidays, Caroline Polacheck, formerly one-half synth-pop band Chairlift, dropped a pretty stellar cover of the Corrs 2000 track âBreathless.â Say what you want about the Corrs: they knew their way around a hook. Polacheck wisely keeps the songâs sticky melody while giving the production a bit more heft. Itâs part of her new collection of remixes that includes reworks by vaporwave heroes Toro Y Moi and George Clanton.
Claud Mintz has been slowly dribbling out single doses of exquisitely produced bedroom pop (including 2019's "Wish You Were Gay") for a minute. The Chicago artist is set to release his debut album as Claud on Phoebe Bridgers just-announced new label Saddest Factory Record later this month. This kind of music can often end up sounding like a bit of a gauzy blur, but Mintz manages to create enough tension in songs like âSoft Spotâ to really make them pop.
Speaking of Claud, theyâve also started a new band with fellow bedroom popper Clairo. Shelly. The two tracks the duo have released so far certainly hue close to their shared love for gauzy pop, but I do think thereâs something unique here and Iâm excited for more.
TRP.P (pronounced âtrippyâ) are a Toronto-based R&B duo who decidedly do not sound like the product of the OVO/Toronto sound. The cleverly titled âChakra Conâ is on their 2019 album 2TRP.P.Â
Kool Kids Music Preservation Club
Itâs hard to explain just how massive Pearl Jam were in the mid-90s. This is a band that, at the height of the music video era, stopped making music videos and somehow become more famous because of it. That fame meant that basically anything that any band member touched got noticed, which is probably how a band like Brad ended up on a major label. Featuring PJ guitarist Stone Gossard, as well as former members of Malfunkshun and Pigeonhed, the band were a very un-grunge proposition in an era where dropped-D-tuned guitars and howling vocals ruled everything. âThe Day Bringsâ was the lead single from their second album, Interiors. It got a lot of spins on rock radio (which is where I first heard it) despite being light and soulful. Though not quite as mopey, it kind of presaged the post-Bends style of modern rock that groups like David Gray, Keane, Coldplay and Travis would perfect in just a few years time.
Ian Gormely is a freelance music journalist based in Toronto.
Hit up koolkidsmusicclub@gmail.com for questions, criticisms and submissions.