At the time in 2002-2006 that "mall punk" (i.e. Jimmy Eat World, Bowling For Soup, Good Charlotte, Ataris) was my favorite kind of modern music, even though it could be kinda generic and I remember how the bands usually loaded their CDs with like 18 soundalike songs. It was happy, fun and somewhat hard guitar rocking, and the dudes usually had a good sense of humor...all of which is really missing from music now.

Even though it wasn't exactly original, I think that was kinda the last wave of rock music we had.

Thats actually the type of music I haven't heard on the radio for a long time. Not only is a good sense of humor missing, so is variety of music and good messages to people.

I feel exactly the same way. I was in high school at the time, so naturally I have plenty of fun memories attached to songs like "The Middle", "Until the Day I Die", "In Too Deep", "Flavor of the Week", etc. I'll be the first to admit that a lot of the songs are a bit on the "cheesy" side, and I know that many of those bands were panned by critics, but Pop-Punk is just the sort of loud, catchy, easily accessible rock music that seems to be missing from top 40 radio these days.

I think, in some ways, Pop-Punk is to the '00s what Hair Metal was to the '80s. It was massively popular in it's time, but quickly became a footnote with most of the bands being totally lost to history. I mean, who remembers Yellowcard anymore these days?

I feel exactly the same way. I was in high school at the time, so naturally I have plenty of fun memories attached to songs like "The Middle", "Until the Day I Die", "In Too Deep", "Flavor of the Week", etc. I'll be the first to admit that a lot of the songs are a bit on the "cheesy" side, and I know that many of those bands were panned by critics, but Pop-Punk is just the sort of loud, catchy, easily accessible rock music that seems to be missing from top 40 radio these days.

I think, in some ways, Pop-Punk is to the '00s what Hair Metal was to the '80s. It was massively popular in it's time, but quickly became a footnote with most of the bands being totally lost to history. I mean, who remembers Yellowcard anymore these days?

I was thinking about it paralleling hair metal too - i.e. both loud but still fun and catchy mainstream rock that was just slightly rebellious and easy for kids to get into. There's only like 5 perhaps 10 at most "classic", still very well known pop/punk songs and the rest seem to have become totally forgotten. I might add American Idiot era Green Day in there too.

p.s. I've noticed that Classic Rock tends to kinda mean ALL rock now too! Like my local CR station just expanded, and still play their 1964-1991 standards but also play everything up to the mid 00s, including a few pop punk songs (i.e. "My Own Worst Enemy") and it honestly doesn't sound out of place next to Def Leppard, the Stones, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Tom Petty, Aerosmith and U2...which is kinda cool and scary at the same time.

I wonder if today's kids think all that was going on at the same time. Like they'd lump Jimmy Eat World in with The Stones and think its all "older people's music".

I do too. Too bad it seems everyone has forgotten about it. People tend to lump it as "90s" when almost all of it happened in the early 2000s. You'll get confused looks if you mention Treble Charger or GOB to the casual person.

It definitely peaked in the early 00's, but I remember it beginning in full force around 1999. That's when Blink 182's "What's My Age Again?" was huge, with its silly video of the band running naked through town. I'm pretty sure that Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy," which was mentioned in this thread, came out either in late '98 or early '99. Blink had other hits from the same album in the year 2000 and other sound-alike groups emerged that year and the following year (remember SR71 or New Found Glory?). If we count the Offspring, I would say this style of music goes back quite a bit further (they broke big in 1994 with the album 'Smash'), although I would agree that the Offspring, while largely palateable to mainstream rock fans, had a bit of an edge closer to their punk roots. I think Green Day was sort of the prototype of this music (like the Offspring, they got big in 1994 with the album 'Dookie').

Reminds me of eighth grade.

Not my favorite category of rock, but I do like some songs here and there. Such as Panic At The Disco's I Write Sins Not Tragedies. It was a catchy song. The mid 00's is when that music was at it's end, the early part of the decade is when it was getting popular.

Shouldn't it just be pop rock in general. Pop punk wasn't the only rock genre popular in the 2000s!

That was also my favourite kind of music around that time. When I was 10, I would rock out to Green Day, Avril lavigne, Simple Plan, Bowling For Soup, and Blink 182. I would be all like "yeah, f*** Authority" and my parents would be all like "aww, just like me when I was your age" which pissed me off.
Another artist from that time that seems to get overlooked is Skye sweetnam, she was my idol in middle/high school. Now she's part of a hard rock group called sumo cyco.

I loved Blink 182 during that 2000-2004 period. Still have a soft spot for a lot of their songs.

I was thinking about it paralleling hair metal too - i.e. both loud but still fun and catchy mainstream rock that was just slightly rebellious and easy for kids to get into. There's only like 5 perhaps 10 at most "classic", still very well known pop/punk songs and the rest seem to have become totally forgotten. I might add American Idiot era Green Day in there too.

p.s. I've noticed that Classic Rock tends to kinda mean ALL rock now too! Like my local CR station just expanded, and still play their 1964-1991 standards but also play everything up to the mid 00s, including a few pop punk songs (i.e. "My Own Worst Enemy") and it honestly doesn't sound out of place next to Def Leppard, the Stones, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Tom Petty, Aerosmith and U2...which is kinda cool and scary at the same time.

I wonder if today's kids think all that was going on at the same time. Like they'd lump Jimmy Eat World in with The Stones and think its all "older people's music".


Now that's a scary thought! I was just getting used to the idea of Nirvana and Pearl Jam being considered "classic rock", but Green Day and Blink 182 are hitting a little too close to home. :o

Really though, considering how dead mainstream rock is these days, I wouldn't be all that surprised if early '00s Garage Rock like The White Stripes and The Strokes doesn't wind up on "classic rock" radio sooner rather than later. In fact, I'm really beginning to fear that, if it doesn't make a comeback within the next few years, the entire genre of rock itself, across the board, might wind up being seen by teens of the '20s as "older people's music".


It definitely peaked in the early 00's, but I remember it beginning in full force around 1999. That's when Blink 182's "What's My Age Again?" was huge, with its silly video of the band running naked through town. I'm pretty sure that Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy," which was mentioned in this thread, came out either in late '98 or early '99. Blink had other hits from the same album in the year 2000 and other sound-alike groups emerged that year and the following year (remember SR71 or New Found Glory?). If we count the Offspring, I would say this style of music goes back quite a bit further (they broke big in 1994 with the album 'Smash'), although I would agree that the Offspring, while largely palateable to mainstream rock fans, had a bit of an edge closer to their punk roots. I think Green Day was sort of the prototype of this music (like the Offspring, they got big in 1994 with the album 'Dookie').


Yeah, Pop-Punk had a relatively long run of popularity, arguably from 1994 up through 2005ish. From what I've seen, Green Day's taking off in '94 (as well as The Offspring album you mentioned from that year also) is usually credited as kick starting the genre. I'd also agree that it's absolute peak commercially was during the "Y2K era", maybe roughly 1999-2002.

Now that's a scary thought! I was just getting used to the idea of Nirvana and Pearl Jam being considered "classic rock", but Green Day and Blink 182 are hitting a little too close to home. :o

Really though, considering how dead mainstream rock is these days, I wouldn't be all that surprised if early '00s Garage Rock like The White Stripes and The Strokes doesn't wind up on "classic rock" radio sooner rather than later. In fact, I'm really beginning to fear that, if it doesn't make a comeback within the next few years, the entire genre of rock itself, across the board, might wind up being seen by teens of the '20s as "older people's music".

Yeah, Pop-Punk had a relatively long run of popularity, arguably from 1994 up through 2005ish. From what I've seen, Green Day's taking off in '94 (as well as The Offspring album you mentioned from that year also) is usually credited as kick starting the genre. I'd also agree that it's absolute peak commercially was during the "Y2K era", maybe roughly 1999-2002.

Agreed. I honestly think that's my biggest fear...that rock will totally lose relevance among younger people (except for hipsters or kids who intentionally seek it out) within a few years if it doesn't come back, and people like us could potentially all be lumped together with Xers and Boomers as "that guitar music old people listen to". 1955-2005 could all be one big block to kids in the future.

Thankfully we're still not there yet. The mid 2000s are still close enough that today's high school kids remember it when they were like 7-9. But once anyone that remembers it is over 25 or certainly over 30, it'll be all over.

Yeah, even though Offspring and Green Day (they were a little more poppy, even back then) and Blink's music are a little more legit 90s-y sounding, I'd definitely consider it a part of the same genre.

I'm going to be honest and say I couldn't STAND that kind of music at the time or now, it's something about their whiny, nasally singing that makes me go eek 8-P(especially that guy from Simple Plan), I was more into Linkin Park, Timbaland/Neptunes, and dance/house music in the early/mid '00s.

Agreed. I honestly think that's my biggest fear...that rock will totally lose relevance among younger people (except for hipsters or kids who intentionally seek it out) within a few years if it doesn't come back, and people like us could potentially all be lumped together with Xers and Boomers as "that guitar music old people listen to". 1955-2005 could all be one big block to kids in the future.

Thankfully we're still not there yet. The mid 2000s are still close enough that today's high school kids remember it when they were like 7-9. But once anyone that remembers it is over 25 or certainly over 30, it'll be all over.

Yeah, even though Offspring and Green Day (they were a little more poppy, even back then) and Blink's music are a little more legit 90s-y sounding, I'd definitely consider it a part of the same genre.


I think it will come back because people are demanding it. Not many people are into today's music except for 9-14 year old girls.

Agreed. I honestly think that's my biggest fear...that rock will totally lose relevance among younger people (except for hipsters or kids who intentionally seek it out) within a few years if it doesn't come back, and people like us could potentially all be lumped together with Xers and Boomers as "that guitar music old people listen to". 1955-2005 could all be one big block to kids in the future.

Thankfully we're still not there yet. The mid 2000s are still close enough that today's high school kids remember it when they were like 7-9. But once anyone that remembers it is over 25 or certainly over 30, it'll be all over.

Yeah, even though Offspring and Green Day (they were a little more poppy, even back then) and Blink's music are a little more legit 90s-y sounding, I'd definitely consider it a part of the same genre.

I really don't think rock music will go away, it will evolve, but people will always appreciate music that takes real talent. There are probably quite a few teenagers who'd rather hear that than the crap people think they should like.

I really don't think rock music will go away, it will evolve, but people will always appreciate music that takes real talent. There are probably quite a few teenagers who'd rather hear that than the crap people think they should like.


I don't know, I've heard some bad rock bands with terrible lead singers who can't sing. The Strokes anyone?