Early 2000's Pop-Punk In Seven Singles

Let’s talk about pop-punk between 2001 and 2004. Why so specific? I don’t know. I just felt like it. I have feelings about it, apparently. You can tell exactly when I started on the beer. What can I say? Pop-punk brings me back to a period that I apparently can’t revisit sober.

In Too Deep, Sum 41: 

Sum 41 is the first band on our list, and the first of three Canadian artists. Whoo, go Canada, keep pop-punking on. They are from Ajax, Ontario, and have been making sweet, sweet music in some form or another since 1996. In Too Deep was released in September of 2001, and although it was not as successful as Fat Lip, their previous single, it still charted at #10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks. We’re talking about it just because it’s the earliest memorable pop-punk track, for me.

Cause I'm in too deep, and I'm trying to keep,

Up above in my head, instead of going under,
Instead of going under again

They’ve always reminded me a bit of Blink 182, especially in this music video. The music video features embroiled in a diving duel with a group of jocks in red speedos, and in between dives, the band plays in an empty pool. After his dive, guitarist Dave Baksh rises from the water playing his guitar solo, and at the end of the video, after [SPOILER ALERT] Sum 41 wins the duel, everyone watching jumps in the pool. It just has a Blink 182 feel to it, and I think that’s why I like it. There’s so much energy to it, and just that teensy bit more edge than the song really requires.  It doesn't go anywhere near far enough to be punk, and it doesn’t take itself nearly seriously enough for that anyways. It’s just all about having a good time. It’s about doing a dramatic jump into the pool from a relatively great height, and having fun on the way down, emerging victorious. It’s a metaphor for LIFE.

Or else it’s just something to dance around to while you clean your room like it’s 2001. Either way.

My Friends Over You, New Found Glory:  

THOUGH YOU SWEAR THAT YOU ARE TRUE I STILL PICK MY FRIENDS OVER YOU!!!!!!

*cough*

Right, had to get that out of the way.  Back to business. Released on 22 July 2002, My Friends Over You reached #5 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart. New Found Glory, of Coral Springs, Florida,  had been making delicious pop-punk since 1997, and continue to do so. I’ve only ever listened to this song of theirs, and by listened to, I do mean danced around like a maniac playing the air drums. I never could play the air guitar,
The music video features the band playing in a concert setting. That's kinda cool. Travis Barker, Tim Armstrong, and Brody Dalle (all of The Transplants) guest star; that's really cool. Ian Grushka eats pizza; I guess that's cool. They have Typical Video Girls; I guess that's cool, too. Well, not so much, although OBVIOUSLY I understand parody. Their heads get really big at one point. VIDEO EFFECTS ARE NIFTY. There's a superhero at one point; that's pretty new and original. The puppies are pretty cool, I guess. Such a [SPOILER ALERT] TWIST when they turn into cardboard cut-outs while the real band watches from afar at the end of the video. 
OKAY, SO I HATE THE VIDEO. The song is still awesome. Pure pop-punk perfection. Come bounce up and down with me. 

Sk8r Boi, Avril Lavigne: 

HE WAS A SK8R BOi, SHE SAID SEE YOU LATER BOY.

Oh, Avril. Avril, Avril, Avril. How I wanted to be you when I was sixteen. Should I be admitting that? Is sixteen too old to want to be a pop-punk princess? Avril, like me, is from Ontario. Unlike me, she is from Napanee, and unlike me, she sang Sk8r Boi, which reached #10 on the United States Billboard Hot 100. OKAY, SO I’LL NEVER BE AVRIL. GOD. I JUST WANTED TO SING ON TOP OF A CAR WITH MY BAND LIKE SHE DID.

The music video really doesn’t have much to do with the song. Some posters advertise a concert that will happen at the intersection of 7^th and Spring Noon, and that concert happens on top of some cars. There’s a police helicopter at the end, and Avril smashes her guitar. I NEVER GOT TO SMASH A GUITAR. The song, though, is a sweet love song about Avril and a sk8r boi who rock each other’s world. The sk8r boi has, thankfully, avoided the tricksy clutches of the ballet dancer, who is now alone with a baby (heavens above) and regrets that she let her friends’ opinions of his baggy clothes sway her dating decisions. Such is high school life. Okay, so the song isn’t the most mature, but it’s FUN. Pseudo-headbang with me, you know you want to.

If you’ve ever felt rejected, but KNOWN you were actually too good for that stupid asshole, you will probably enjoy this song. The stupid asshole gets their stupid asshole life, and the amazing sk8r boi and the amazing Avril get their happy life together, backstage at the show. The right people live happily ever after, just like you fucking deserve.

...can I make it any more obvious?

Lifestyles Of The Rich And  Famous: Good Charlotte

My favourite gentlemen from Waldorf, Maryland released Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous on September 6, 2002. It reached #20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and (together with the rest of The Young And The Hopeless) soundtracked my LIFE that year. 

I think Good Charlotte is probably the most polished band on this list, but that doesn’t mean they don’t belong here. They are, for me, the EPITOME of pop-punk. They are the first band that comes to mind, and my go-to when I need a fix, as you do.  Part of the video takes place in a courtroom, and the Maddens’  dog is interrogated. How awesome is that? They’ve also got such great spiky hair. Say what you will about Good Charlotte, but they did have the look down.

And fuck you, they had the sound down, too. This song makes you feel good. It gets you a tiny bit angry, and it makes you want to dance and throw your head around. What the fuck else do you want from your pop-punk? THAT’S RIGHT. NOTHING.

The Last Song, All American Rejects:

TUNE THAT RADIO, TYSON, so that the rest of the band might get in the car simultaneously so that it starts off feeling like a pop video. My boys from Stillwater, Oklahoma released The Last Song on April 21, 2003, and this album holds the distinction of being the first that I ever special-ordered. Judge away. It only hit #29 on Billboard’s US Modern Rock Tracks chart, but we’re going to talk about it anyways.

When Chris Gaylor twirls his drumstick in this video, it is very clear that, of the bands on this list, they are by far the closest to a pop band. Bits of it are still punky, still headbangy – the chorus is - but for the most part, this is a poppy pop-punk song, and you know what? That’s okay. That is OKAY. Things can just feel good. Shhh and just dance to it while they play in a high school field, and Tyson Ritter drives around in a parking lot. It’s so very high school, and that’s okay. They’re babies, and pop-punk takes us back to those days, and that’s okay. It’s all okay. The kids are alright.

You wanted the best, it wasn't me, will you give it back

Now I'll take the lead, when there's no more room to make it grow

*sobs*

Pop-punk break-up songs are the WORST. And Tyson, I think you’re gone, and I do miss you. *cries into her beer*

Perfect, Simple Plan: 

ROCK ON, MONTREAL. Perfect hit #24 on the US Billboard Hot 100 after being released on August 26, 2003. What a song of teenage angst. What a song that is emblematic of everything that pop-punk is at its purest and most painful. The video cuts between Simple Plan performing on a rooftop and scenes of teenagers in their rooms, distressed. It rains at the end of the video, because that’s what it does IN OUR SOULS.

Truly, although this song is maybe not angry enough to be truly punky, it is so perfectly pop-punk. God, Simple Plan, I love you. You were my angst. I JUST WANNA MAKE YOU PROUD, I’M NEVER GONNA BE GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU.

*sobs into her beer*

Oh, boys, you made it so far. You might not have been perfect, but you did so well. I AM PROUD OF YOU.

Ocean Avenue, Yellowcard: 

There is a place called Ocean Avenue where I grew up, and I think of this song every time I drive by it. I want to cry thinking of it.

Face down in broken glass, that’s how the music video starts. That’s how it leaves me feeling. It’s the pop-punk that hurts, unlike the last few poppy ones. That’s a good thing. The song hit #37 on the US Billboard Hot 100 after being released on September 5, 2004 by the gentlemen from Jacksonville, Florida. The nuns come after, of course, because nuns had to feature in at least one of these music videos.

IF I COULD FIND YOU NOW, THINGS WOULD GET BETTER

WE COULD LEAVE THIS TOWN AND RUN FOREVER

I KNOW SOME WAY SOME HOW, WE’LL BE TOGETHER

LET YOUR WAVES CRASH DOWN ON ME, AND TAKE ME AWAAAY

We could leave. We could run forever. We could. It would be okay. Let’s do it. The violin makes it better. Let’s dance around to this and then get in the car and drive away while we listen to the Moleman Remix of Soco Amaretto Lime by Brand New. MUSIC SAVES. IT HURTS, BUT IT SAVES.

Pop-punk came to me at a funny time in my life. It came to me when I was really finding music for myself. It came to me when I was depressed and needed anger, needed that release, but also needed to be able to dance it out. It came to me when I needed to know that other people felt these feelings, felt imperfect and felt alone, but felt hopeful and hopeless at the same time. Felt conflicted and felt TEENAGED and felt like the music could get them through it. And it did. It fucking did. Dance to it and let it save your life and just make you feel DAMN GOOD. Hell, just let it help you clean your room.  

I know there’s no Blink 182. It felt too mature or something, too ahead of the rest of it. Yell at me for it. I know that their early stuff would have fit in.