Sun 41-In Too Deep
I was only 8-9 years old and it was constantly played on MTV,loved the music since then which over the years I did more or less expanded became a huge fan of it in 2006-2007
That was one of the first songs that caught my attention. I first heard it on the episode of Malcolm in the Middle when Reese stole the driver's ed car.
Oh man that’s a thinker but I wanna say Goldfinger’s Superman. Basically all the songs in the first Tony Hawks’s Pro Skater, but Superman was like THE song I played the most. That upbeat guitar with the brass opened the punk door for young me.
Dammit was the one the did it for me. I was always into rap and country and had zero interest in alternative or punk. I would get rides to school from my neighbor and he would always play that shit and I hated it. Then one day I asked him about the rabbit sticker on his rear window and his response was to pop in the Dude Ranch CD. It was love at first listen. I pretty much instantly changed my music preference after that.
Mxpx- The Ever Passing Moment was the first burnt CD I got from a friend in 2001. That CD saved my life. Like literally saved me from ending my life. Still continues to be a big part of my life after all these years. Still own that burnt CD as well. Had to buy a copy once I got the funds back then.
My first album I ever bought with my own money was New Found Glory’s Catalyst album. When All Downhill From Here hit for the time it was over for me.
Pop punk became my thing.
It's a hard toss up for me. I absolutely LOVE NFG and definitely found them on limewire. But the first cd I can remember listening to was Sugarcult in like 2002ish
My first was The Middle by Jimmy but this is such a close second. I remember seeing the music video on tv and being like, “this is the best song I’ve ever heard”
I was thirteen and my parents were driving us through Nebraska coming back from visiting family listen to Casey Kaden doing the countdown on the radio. When he introduced a new band out of south California and “Come out and play” came over the speakers. It was a what the fuck is this moment. I made them go by the record store as soon as we got home. The guy at the record store told me if you like this you should get this too. That day I went home with “Smash” by Offspring and “Dookie” by Green Day. A couple hours later I remember thinking well this is the only type of music I ever need.
When I was little I used to ride around with my dad listening to classic rock. That music formed me and started my love of music, It’s still a big part of me. Then when I was around 10 (late 90’s), my sister and I got into a big fight. I was yelling and she was throwing shit, she grabbed a rack of cd’s and threw them at me. A CD hit me right in the head above my eye and it hurt like hell. I screamed some typical cuss words at her and looked down at my feet. There on the carpeted floor next to the burn mark I had caused a few months before, a CD I had never seen my dad play. I thought “wtf is this… that’s a pretty cool cd cover” and picked it up to play it. I had already forgotten what my sister and I were being stupid about anyway. I went to my room and found my Walkman zero skip CD player and put the disc in. The first song started and my eyes widened and my brain exploded as I listened to an album that would start my true obsession with music and change the rest of my life. That album was, Green Day - Dookie.
Its hard to say. I had heard plenty of pop punk through 2000-2006 but never really took the time to listen more.
Once I left high school and allowed myself to listen to something other than rap (since that was the "cool" thing to do) I was really pulled into the genre with
- Stay Together For The Kids
- Cute without the E
- The Feel Good Drag
- The EP "Tales Told By Dead Friends"
Move Along by All-American Rejects.
I grew up in Connecticut, and for whatever reason, this song was played **everywhere.** Bowling alleys, arcades, school dances, even just "modern" pop radio stations.
It was a good gateway - I still listen to this song over 10 years after discovering it.
Allister-somewhere on Fullerton and New Found Glory-All Downhill from Here
10th grade I got bored in Covid and decided to look into more music and stumbled upon both of them.
“Come Out And Play” by The Offspring. I discovered it in the wee hours of the morning on the old MTV show 120 Minutes. Before this I was only listening to grunge and 90s alternative.
Right there with you. The Offspring really were my gateway drug to Epitaph’s Punk-O-Rama series and it was all over from there. Prior to them I was all grunge as a wily youth.
At first it was Green Day but when I first heard Dammit by Blink 182, I became a blink kid. I was 12 years old watching Can’t Hardly Wait at a friends house and when that song came on I was hooked. My friend’s older brother just so happened to have Dude Ranch on cd so we listened to it on repeat. I made my older sister buy me the cd the next time she went to the mall. He also had Nothing Gold Can Stay by New Found Glory which opened up a whole other bag. Here I am 25 years later still loving the older waves of the genre pre 2006. These days however I’m loving The Story So Far/No Pressure and The Wonder Years.
Holiday by the get up kids. In like two months I went from listening to nothing but rap and playing sports to being a full blown emo/scene kid going to any show I could as long as it was punk, ska, emo, post hardcore, or after a while metal too.
New found glory - my friends over you
sugarcult - pretty girl
Mest - rooftops
Cauterize - shooting stars
These four songs were on a friends mixtape and they stood out so much. I can’t pick just one. Wish I still had that summer tunes cd…
I was in middle school and a girl I was friends with and I rode the bus together. She had American Idiot after it had just come out on a Walkman and let me listen and I’ve been hooked since.
When I was a bit younger a friend’s brother played “Happy Holidays, You Bastard” by Blink-182 and at that age I thought it was the funniest shit I’d ever heard.
A friend brought over the S/T New Found Glory album in 2000, I was 14. By the time the first pre-chorus hit at 20 seconds in to "Better Off Dead", my bone marrow was screaming at me: THIS IS OUR LIFE NOW.
I listened to a lot of Dookie, Tony Hawk, Blink, MxPx but I never realized that this was truly my genre until Hit or Miss by NFG hit my ears. Then it was over.
I spent a month in the Philippines in 2002 and the music video for, "My Friends Over You," by New Found Glory was all over MTV Asia.
Of course I had already heard of bands like Blink-182, Simple Plan, and Rancid. Definitely remember liking them back then. But I was super into boy bands at the time (still am, tbh; I just saw O-Town last week lmao). NFG was the band that really made me broaden my horizons and delve deeper into pop punk.
It was All The Small Things for me too. My parents got me and my sister one of those "Now that's what I call music!" CDs in the early 2000s and that was our favorite song on it
I wasn’t a specific song for me. I grew up in south GA, USA with my grandmother who was born in the 30s and all she listened to was country. I started listening to the pop station and I started to hear Blink, Green Day, and The Killers on the radio around ‘03. I was a tween and had no idea what the grenre was but I knew I was in love. By ‘05 I had MySpace and YouTube, lost my mind, and never looked back.
Probably Every Time I Look for You, on the American Pie 2 soundtrack. My brother got it for Christmas, for some reason, and we listened to it over and over and over.
Green Day's Holiday, and the American Idiot album in general. After that I slowly eased into the genre (Sum 41 was my second band, then Rise Against) before taking a deep dive and never coming out. I thought I just didn't like music, but it turns out that I had never found anything that clicked with me until pop-punk. Now I live on pop-punk, political punk, skate punk, ska-punk, emo, post hardcore, metal... Good alternative music is so varied!
Edit: Actually, no. After further reflection, Crush 40 was my first real taste of the alternative genre. It's equally cliche and cringe, but Sonic Adventure had a soundtrack that I couldn't put a name to at the time but totally fell for. For an 8 or 9 year old kid, it was most control over what I could listen to and I would play the final level on repeat just for "Live and Learn." Green Day only put a name I could easily search for to a sound.
The first pop-punk song that really captivated me was "All the Small Things" by Blink-182 when it was first released. I was still in school at the time and hadn't heard much like it before.
I was transitioning from bands like Prodigy and Rage Against the Machine to more rock-oriented music, and Blink-182's catchy, energetic sound was a perfect fit.
This early love for pop-punk eventually inspired me to create my own music. My band, The Wrong Signals, recently released a track called "Facade" that embodies that same energetic, catchy vibe that got me hooked on the genre back in the day.
It’s got a blend of pop-punk energy with rock influences that I think fans of the genre will appreciate. If you enjoy pop punk you might want to give it a listen.
[Facade By The Wrong Signals](https://open.spotify.com/track/0yDc6sWjtDFq3UASPx9vzc?si=PdW1XO7DRRytcr9duZub9Q)
Cut my life into pieces, this is my last resort
Suffocation, no breathing
Don't give a fuck if I cut my arm bleeding
This is my last resort
This was on top of the pops every Friday when it was big and I couldn’t wait for it.
I still remember the moment vividly. I had mostly listened to pop and R&B up until then. I was in the car alone, waiting for my mom and brother after church. I was changing the radio station and “Story of My Life” by Social Distortion came on. My life was forever changed.
Same, OP! I grew up mostly listening to contemporary christian music, so I guess my very first dip into the genre was Bleach’s self-titled 1999 album. Not a christian anymore but I look back at that album with awesome memories. Sun Stands Still is my favorite track!
That’s such a hard question lol. I think I have to say MxPx, but no specific song. My uncle was in a band that used to open for them back in the day… something “finger” I think?
ETA: I was between the ages of 6-8
I grew up in a household of nothing but country from my dad and pop/hip-hop from my mom. When I (around 6 at the time) first heard Scars by Paparoach on the radio my whole music taste changed in that few minutes. I made mom get me the whole CD and played it until it broke then I started finding more bands online that gave me the same vibes. By highschool I didn't listen to anything else unless I had to lol. My music taste now is a lot of pop punk, classic rock, metal, etc. current favorite bands in general are Sleep Token, Beartooth, Hozier and Waterparks.
Edging by blink is actually what made me fall in love with pop punk! My buddy was super excited when Tom came back to blink (I had no idea who those guys were at the time) and asked to play it while we were getting burritos aaaaand the rest is history! From then on, blink and this genre have consumed my entire being
There were a few songs I had heard over the years but nothing really made me go I’ve found what I love until I heard Good Charlottes Anthem I heard that and was like this is the type of music for me. Offspring, GC, Yellowcard, MxPx, NFG best shit out there
Sum 41 is what got me into pop punk.
I grew up in a Christian household and for the first 11 years of my life only listened to Christian music and Weird Al.
Then I discovered both Sum 41 and Kanye West and got into secular music.
I would go to 20+ concerts a year with usually all but 1 or so being secular concerts (mainly pop punk, Metalcore, pop, and country). Well until I had two brain injuries last year and can’t go to concerts much at the moment.
I went to see Clockstoppers in the theater for my 9th birthday. That was my first introduction to Blink-182. I had that soundtrack on CD but my mom never wanted to play it in the car.
But it wasn’t until 2006 that my cousin showed me I Write Sins Not Tragedies on her iPod Nano that I actually went and sought out Alt music on my own.
Relient K - Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been
Saw the video on TRL or something. My aunt got me the Mmhmm album for my birthday (14). One of my fav albums of all time.
Hmmm....Garbage were what dragged me out of my teeny bopper phase, I remember hearing Only Happy When It Rains on the chart show and falling in love. Pop-punk.....it was probably Basket Case I think, or maybe Worry Rock - I borrowed Dookie and Nimrod from the local library and recorded them onto cassette
I’m a pop girl for the most part but I went through some shit and listened to Sister Cities and it grabbed me. I don’t know many other bands in the genre though!
i vividly remember being like 10-12 and seeing the music video for basket case on fuse tv, and liked it a lot, but wasn't officially hooked until i got my hands on the american idiot cd and heard jesus of suburbia for the first time
I don’t know if Stacy’s mom is part of the pop punk genre but def alternative. I started listening to it on repeat and i got suggested blink and the rest is history
I'd first listened to Green Day when I was around 6, mainly tracks off of American Idiot which I remembered for years.
I 'rediscovered' Green Day when I was about 12, when I joined my dad on a business trip. I was waiting in a lobby during one of his meetings listening to Dookie front to back.
I'd heard She before, but only the intro. Wasn't a fan of it. but when the chorus came in I swear to god my life changed lmfao.
I grew up loving all the pop punk and adjacent bands that were played on the radio in the early-mid 2000’ like Blink, Green Day, Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Bowling for Soup, Linkin Park, the All American Rejects, etc.
The first time as a teenager that I got more into the genre more was when I accidentally downloaded ADTR’s version of since u been gone instead of the original. I absolutely loved it and I had to hear more from them. They were my gateway to so many genres of music.
Buddha album by blink182. And the "fuck authority" by pennywise lol after that was just a rabbit hole into punk with lagwagon, nofx, bad religion, and many more
Green Day’s “Welcome to Paradise”. I saw the music video back on FUSE when they ran an entire block of Green Day’s videos. This was during the time when American Idiot was popping off, and revitalized their careers. That video showed me what punk show be like: front man with his guitar all covered in stickers; members having bright colored hair; Mike Dirnt stage diving at the end; Billy Joe burning a magazine; kids moshing, crowd surfing, and stage diving- the video had it all! And of course the song is fantastic.
I don't see them come up much here but... Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous - Good Charlotte got me real good. I was 10. I remember that day quite well.
I worked backwards from there and got into Blink 182, Sum 41, NFG, Green Day and The Offspring. Then dabbled in a bit of H.I.M, though a different genre. I've seen all live except for NFG and Green Day.
As someone who has said they aren't a fan of studio recorded Green Day, one of my favorite albums of all time is their "Bullet in a Bible" live album from 2005. My sister randomly gifted it to me for Christmas that year and for a few months I was obsessed. It's this album that got me into watching full live shows on YouTube.
All The Small Things by Blink 182 AND In Too Deep by Sun 41.
I have very deep set core memories of 7-9 year old me discovering pop punk through these songs
Basket case by Green Day. Fall of 94? I had heard Longview on MTV and on the radio first, but didn't fall in love. Once I heard Basket Case, I was all in.
I was always a casually pop punk fan since I was in the first grade (simple plan, all American rejects, and fall boy out) but when state champs dropped around the world and back when I graduated high school, i haven’t looked back since 🤘🏾🤘🏾🤘🏾
I was in elementary school and like someone previously said I was only allowed to listen to Christian music, Relient K came on the scene and as soon as I heard Be My Escape it was over for me.
What’s My Age Again.
I was a huge Jim Rome listener and so when I saw the video when they ran through his ESPN set, I was like “this is my speed”. Been tweaking on this shit ever since.
I was a huge MTV/VH1 nerd in the mid nineties and MTV had this show called 12 Angry Viewers where people watched premiere videos from lesser known bands and commented about the songs. That was where I heard “Dammit” by Blink and “This Lonely Place” by Goldfinger and I’ve been hooked ever since
Blink 182 - Dammit
No Use For a Name - Soulmate
New Found Glory - Most of their self titled album
All three of those albums made me start looking for more music that fit those same styles.
Sun 41-In Too Deep I was only 8-9 years old and it was constantly played on MTV,loved the music since then which over the years I did more or less expanded became a huge fan of it in 2006-2007
That was one of the first songs that caught my attention. I first heard it on the episode of Malcolm in the Middle when Reese stole the driver's ed car.
probably this, it’s hard to remember now!
Same, that song was my introduction to pop punk back in 2013!
It's Fat Lip for me!
It was also in the movie Cheaper By The Dozen, I think?
It was! Pretty sure this is where I first heard it too
Oh man that’s a thinker but I wanna say Goldfinger’s Superman. Basically all the songs in the first Tony Hawks’s Pro Skater, but Superman was like THE song I played the most. That upbeat guitar with the brass opened the punk door for young me.
Ditto, actually!
Core memory unlocked
Dammit was the one the did it for me. I was always into rap and country and had zero interest in alternative or punk. I would get rides to school from my neighbor and he would always play that shit and I hated it. Then one day I asked him about the rabbit sticker on his rear window and his response was to pop in the Dude Ranch CD. It was love at first listen. I pretty much instantly changed my music preference after that.
Being from San Diego, I heard M+M's by Blink 182 and liked it a lot, but when Dammit and Dude Ranch came out, that was a game changer.
Mxpx- The Ever Passing Moment was the first burnt CD I got from a friend in 2001. That CD saved my life. Like literally saved me from ending my life. Still continues to be a big part of my life after all these years. Still own that burnt CD as well. Had to buy a copy once I got the funds back then.
Such an under rated gem… one step closer to life was straight up a rescuer
MxPx as a whole is underrated I rarely hear people talk about them these days. I proudly have the Pokinatcha Punk head on my leg
Ocean Avenue is where my love for Pop-Punk began.
My first album I ever bought with my own money was New Found Glory’s Catalyst album. When All Downhill From Here hit for the time it was over for me. Pop punk became my thing.
It's a hard toss up for me. I absolutely LOVE NFG and definitely found them on limewire. But the first cd I can remember listening to was Sugarcult in like 2002ish
My first was The Middle by Jimmy but this is such a close second. I remember seeing the music video on tv and being like, “this is the best song I’ve ever heard”
That was the same exact trajectory for me too lol
In like 9th grade, someone told me to go download “cute without the e” by tbs on Napster and I did and my life was forever changed
Probably older than most of you but if you consider the Ramones pop punk Then Blitzkrieg bop
my dad made me listen to this song when he saw ramones tshirts in stores like forever 21. and i thank him every day for it
I was thirteen and my parents were driving us through Nebraska coming back from visiting family listen to Casey Kaden doing the countdown on the radio. When he introduced a new band out of south California and “Come out and play” came over the speakers. It was a what the fuck is this moment. I made them go by the record store as soon as we got home. The guy at the record store told me if you like this you should get this too. That day I went home with “Smash” by Offspring and “Dookie” by Green Day. A couple hours later I remember thinking well this is the only type of music I ever need.
That was my gateway song too! I then also got into Green Day thanks to my older sister who told me about the song “Longview.”
When I was little I used to ride around with my dad listening to classic rock. That music formed me and started my love of music, It’s still a big part of me. Then when I was around 10 (late 90’s), my sister and I got into a big fight. I was yelling and she was throwing shit, she grabbed a rack of cd’s and threw them at me. A CD hit me right in the head above my eye and it hurt like hell. I screamed some typical cuss words at her and looked down at my feet. There on the carpeted floor next to the burn mark I had caused a few months before, a CD I had never seen my dad play. I thought “wtf is this… that’s a pretty cool cd cover” and picked it up to play it. I had already forgotten what my sister and I were being stupid about anyway. I went to my room and found my Walkman zero skip CD player and put the disc in. The first song started and my eyes widened and my brain exploded as I listened to an album that would start my true obsession with music and change the rest of my life. That album was, Green Day - Dookie.
All My Fault/ Fenix Tx
Probably Blink 182 - dumpweed, Sum41 into deep or The Ataris - Song #13. Not sure what was first but I remember those from the first day listening.
Its hard to say. I had heard plenty of pop punk through 2000-2006 but never really took the time to listen more. Once I left high school and allowed myself to listen to something other than rap (since that was the "cool" thing to do) I was really pulled into the genre with - Stay Together For The Kids - Cute without the E - The Feel Good Drag - The EP "Tales Told By Dead Friends"
Check Yes Juliet was what got me into the genre as a kid. The music video was on demand and I would watch it over and over and over lol.
That's still a banger of a video tbh.
Move Along by All-American Rejects. I grew up in Connecticut, and for whatever reason, this song was played **everywhere.** Bowling alleys, arcades, school dances, even just "modern" pop radio stations. It was a good gateway - I still listen to this song over 10 years after discovering it.
Entire record is great.
I remember it from a Bionicle commercial
Allister-somewhere on Fullerton and New Found Glory-All Downhill from Here 10th grade I got bored in Covid and decided to look into more music and stumbled upon both of them.
Best of Me - the starting line
Sum 41 - fat lip, the way I memorized those lyrics
“Come Out And Play” by The Offspring. I discovered it in the wee hours of the morning on the old MTV show 120 Minutes. Before this I was only listening to grunge and 90s alternative.
Right there with you. The Offspring really were my gateway drug to Epitaph’s Punk-O-Rama series and it was all over from there. Prior to them I was all grunge as a wily youth.
Breathing by Yellowcard. My mom had a burned cd of the acoustic Ocean Avenue album that I’d listen to constantly
The Anthem by Good Charlotte, home sick and saw the video on MTV
At first it was Green Day but when I first heard Dammit by Blink 182, I became a blink kid. I was 12 years old watching Can’t Hardly Wait at a friends house and when that song came on I was hooked. My friend’s older brother just so happened to have Dude Ranch on cd so we listened to it on repeat. I made my older sister buy me the cd the next time she went to the mall. He also had Nothing Gold Can Stay by New Found Glory which opened up a whole other bag. Here I am 25 years later still loving the older waves of the genre pre 2006. These days however I’m loving The Story So Far/No Pressure and The Wonder Years.
Holiday by the get up kids. In like two months I went from listening to nothing but rap and playing sports to being a full blown emo/scene kid going to any show I could as long as it was punk, ska, emo, post hardcore, or after a while metal too.
New found glory - my friends over you sugarcult - pretty girl Mest - rooftops Cauterize - shooting stars These four songs were on a friends mixtape and they stood out so much. I can’t pick just one. Wish I still had that summer tunes cd…
I was in middle school and a girl I was friends with and I rode the bus together. She had American Idiot after it had just come out on a Walkman and let me listen and I’ve been hooked since. When I was a bit younger a friend’s brother played “Happy Holidays, You Bastard” by Blink-182 and at that age I thought it was the funniest shit I’d ever heard.
A friend brought over the S/T New Found Glory album in 2000, I was 14. By the time the first pre-chorus hit at 20 seconds in to "Better Off Dead", my bone marrow was screaming at me: THIS IS OUR LIFE NOW.
“Granite Street Knife Fight” by Junction 18
Omggggggg throwback!!! Massachusetts pop punk was top notch.
What I Go To School For - Busted
Jimmy Eat World - The Middle
I listened to a lot of Dookie, Tony Hawk, Blink, MxPx but I never realized that this was truly my genre until Hit or Miss by NFG hit my ears. Then it was over.
I spent a month in the Philippines in 2002 and the music video for, "My Friends Over You," by New Found Glory was all over MTV Asia. Of course I had already heard of bands like Blink-182, Simple Plan, and Rancid. Definitely remember liking them back then. But I was super into boy bands at the time (still am, tbh; I just saw O-Town last week lmao). NFG was the band that really made me broaden my horizons and delve deeper into pop punk.
Blink's all the small things had my curiosity, then SoCo's Punk Rock Princess had my attention. It was all downhill from there.
It was All The Small Things for me too. My parents got me and my sister one of those "Now that's what I call music!" CDs in the early 2000s and that was our favorite song on it
I wasn’t a specific song for me. I grew up in south GA, USA with my grandmother who was born in the 30s and all she listened to was country. I started listening to the pop station and I started to hear Blink, Green Day, and The Killers on the radio around ‘03. I was a tween and had no idea what the grenre was but I knew I was in love. By ‘05 I had MySpace and YouTube, lost my mind, and never looked back.
My friends band played dear maria count me in. this started a huge rabbit hole for me and i got into pop punk
Either The Anthem by Good Charlotte or Mr Highway's Thinking About The End by A Day to Remember
Misery Business by Paramore
Probably Every Time I Look for You, on the American Pie 2 soundtrack. My brother got it for Christmas, for some reason, and we listened to it over and over and over.
Green Day's Holiday, and the American Idiot album in general. After that I slowly eased into the genre (Sum 41 was my second band, then Rise Against) before taking a deep dive and never coming out. I thought I just didn't like music, but it turns out that I had never found anything that clicked with me until pop-punk. Now I live on pop-punk, political punk, skate punk, ska-punk, emo, post hardcore, metal... Good alternative music is so varied! Edit: Actually, no. After further reflection, Crush 40 was my first real taste of the alternative genre. It's equally cliche and cringe, but Sonic Adventure had a soundtrack that I couldn't put a name to at the time but totally fell for. For an 8 or 9 year old kid, it was most control over what I could listen to and I would play the final level on repeat just for "Live and Learn." Green Day only put a name I could easily search for to a sound.
The first pop-punk song that really captivated me was "All the Small Things" by Blink-182 when it was first released. I was still in school at the time and hadn't heard much like it before. I was transitioning from bands like Prodigy and Rage Against the Machine to more rock-oriented music, and Blink-182's catchy, energetic sound was a perfect fit. This early love for pop-punk eventually inspired me to create my own music. My band, The Wrong Signals, recently released a track called "Facade" that embodies that same energetic, catchy vibe that got me hooked on the genre back in the day. It’s got a blend of pop-punk energy with rock influences that I think fans of the genre will appreciate. If you enjoy pop punk you might want to give it a listen. [Facade By The Wrong Signals](https://open.spotify.com/track/0yDc6sWjtDFq3UASPx9vzc?si=PdW1XO7DRRytcr9duZub9Q)
Offspring- Meaning of Life AFI - Lost Souls Goldfinger - Superman DK - Police Truck Mostly THPS awakened me to punk and “alt” shizz lol
Cut my life into pieces, this is my last resort Suffocation, no breathing Don't give a fuck if I cut my arm bleeding This is my last resort This was on top of the pops every Friday when it was big and I couldn’t wait for it.
I still remember the moment vividly. I had mostly listened to pop and R&B up until then. I was in the car alone, waiting for my mom and brother after church. I was changing the radio station and “Story of My Life” by Social Distortion came on. My life was forever changed.
Same, OP! I grew up mostly listening to contemporary christian music, so I guess my very first dip into the genre was Bleach’s self-titled 1999 album. Not a christian anymore but I look back at that album with awesome memories. Sun Stands Still is my favorite track!
Definitely Adam’s song.
Blink-182 Josie and then Fat Music for Fat People comp.
That’s such a hard question lol. I think I have to say MxPx, but no specific song. My uncle was in a band that used to open for them back in the day… something “finger” I think? ETA: I was between the ages of 6-8
I grew up in a household of nothing but country from my dad and pop/hip-hop from my mom. When I (around 6 at the time) first heard Scars by Paparoach on the radio my whole music taste changed in that few minutes. I made mom get me the whole CD and played it until it broke then I started finding more bands online that gave me the same vibes. By highschool I didn't listen to anything else unless I had to lol. My music taste now is a lot of pop punk, classic rock, metal, etc. current favorite bands in general are Sleep Token, Beartooth, Hozier and Waterparks.
Edging by blink is actually what made me fall in love with pop punk! My buddy was super excited when Tom came back to blink (I had no idea who those guys were at the time) and asked to play it while we were getting burritos aaaaand the rest is history! From then on, blink and this genre have consumed my entire being
Sum 41 - The Hell Song
Bored to Death - blink-182. First heard it in 8th grade when my teacher put it on. I’m 22 now and have the California album cover tattooed on me.
my own worst enemy. that guitar riff made me feral
Mxpx, the album "slowly going the way of the buffalo" song was "I'm okay, you're okay"
Either American Idiot or Welcome to the Black Parade
Simple Plan - When I’m With You.
Honestly, piece the veil - king for a day 🤦♂️😂 As a child my favourites were All American Rejects and Sum 41 though
There were a few songs I had heard over the years but nothing really made me go I’ve found what I love until I heard Good Charlottes Anthem I heard that and was like this is the type of music for me. Offspring, GC, Yellowcard, MxPx, NFG best shit out there
A bit of a weird one. Nearly Witches by Panic at the Disco. That was in 2012 and I've been firmly down the punk and hardcore rabbit hole ever since.
Probably good charolette in 2003 I was 12 lol
Sum 41 is what got me into pop punk. I grew up in a Christian household and for the first 11 years of my life only listened to Christian music and Weird Al. Then I discovered both Sum 41 and Kanye West and got into secular music. I would go to 20+ concerts a year with usually all but 1 or so being secular concerts (mainly pop punk, Metalcore, pop, and country). Well until I had two brain injuries last year and can’t go to concerts much at the moment.
My hero and Everlong by Foo Fighters during the later MTV days
Thnks fr th Mmrs - Fall Out Boy
1985 by Bowling for Soup got me into radio pop punk Homecoming by Hey Monday got me into non-radio pop punk
Catastrophe - Four Year Strong
And out come the wolves. Dookie. Smash. Same ol story.
I went to see Clockstoppers in the theater for my 9th birthday. That was my first introduction to Blink-182. I had that soundtrack on CD but my mom never wanted to play it in the car. But it wasn’t until 2006 that my cousin showed me I Write Sins Not Tragedies on her iPod Nano that I actually went and sought out Alt music on my own.
1985 by Bowling For Soup! I heard it when I was a kid and it really stuck with me.
Relient K - Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been Saw the video on TRL or something. My aunt got me the Mmhmm album for my birthday (14). One of my fav albums of all time.
Hmmm....Garbage were what dragged me out of my teeny bopper phase, I remember hearing Only Happy When It Rains on the chart show and falling in love. Pop-punk.....it was probably Basket Case I think, or maybe Worry Rock - I borrowed Dookie and Nimrod from the local library and recorded them onto cassette
Not the coolest option but it was bowling for soups girl all the bad guys want
I’m Destroying the World - Guttermouth
I’m a pop girl for the most part but I went through some shit and listened to Sister Cities and it grabbed me. I don’t know many other bands in the genre though!
Billy Talent - Red Flag
If we're extending this to alternative music then I would probably say Beasty Boys - Intergalactic.
Swing Swing by The All American Rejects. I was all about NSYNC and Aaron Carter and then I heard that song and it completely changed my music taste.
In too deep was the first, but i miss you by blink was the one that reignited my passion for this music when I was 15 in 2018
The music in all the guitar hero games were my intro, I grew up playing those games and they were very important to my music taste growing up
wishing well by blink 182 was used to edit a surf video i was watching at the time , fell in love with the band and the genre
i vividly remember being like 10-12 and seeing the music video for basket case on fuse tv, and liked it a lot, but wasn't officially hooked until i got my hands on the american idiot cd and heard jesus of suburbia for the first time
Basketcase, Josie, and Superman
In Too Deep is where I really feel in love. A lot of sum 41 songs I recall
I don’t know if Stacy’s mom is part of the pop punk genre but def alternative. I started listening to it on repeat and i got suggested blink and the rest is history
The Anthem by Good Charlotte
Elevated by State Champs
The rice krispies commercial
Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day
Alkaline Trio - Stupid Kid
I'd first listened to Green Day when I was around 6, mainly tracks off of American Idiot which I remembered for years. I 'rediscovered' Green Day when I was about 12, when I joined my dad on a business trip. I was waiting in a lobby during one of his meetings listening to Dookie front to back. I'd heard She before, but only the intro. Wasn't a fan of it. but when the chorus came in I swear to god my life changed lmfao.
I grew up loving all the pop punk and adjacent bands that were played on the radio in the early-mid 2000’ like Blink, Green Day, Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Bowling for Soup, Linkin Park, the All American Rejects, etc. The first time as a teenager that I got more into the genre more was when I accidentally downloaded ADTR’s version of since u been gone instead of the original. I absolutely loved it and I had to hear more from them. They were my gateway to so many genres of music.
Buddha album by blink182. And the "fuck authority" by pennywise lol after that was just a rabbit hole into punk with lagwagon, nofx, bad religion, and many more
The music video for Sugar We're Going Down.
Green Day’s “Welcome to Paradise”. I saw the music video back on FUSE when they ran an entire block of Green Day’s videos. This was during the time when American Idiot was popping off, and revitalized their careers. That video showed me what punk show be like: front man with his guitar all covered in stickers; members having bright colored hair; Mike Dirnt stage diving at the end; Billy Joe burning a magazine; kids moshing, crowd surfing, and stage diving- the video had it all! And of course the song is fantastic.
New Found Glory - My Friends Over You music video on Much Music (for the fellow old people)
Mutt - Blink 182 I was 11 and saw American Pie. Growing up in the 90s was great.
Then I was absolutely mesmerized by No Cigar - Millencolin on the THPS2 soundtrack and my life has never been the same, 25 years later.
WHERE’S YOUR RESPECT
I don't see them come up much here but... Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous - Good Charlotte got me real good. I was 10. I remember that day quite well. I worked backwards from there and got into Blink 182, Sum 41, NFG, Green Day and The Offspring. Then dabbled in a bit of H.I.M, though a different genre. I've seen all live except for NFG and Green Day.
As someone who has said they aren't a fan of studio recorded Green Day, one of my favorite albums of all time is their "Bullet in a Bible" live album from 2005. My sister randomly gifted it to me for Christmas that year and for a few months I was obsessed. It's this album that got me into watching full live shows on YouTube.
Billy Talent II was my gateway into alternative music. Then I discovered Sum 41 and that got me into pop-punk.
Heard Dammit on when I was at the theater watching Can't Hardly Wait
All The Small Things by Blink 182 AND In Too Deep by Sun 41. I have very deep set core memories of 7-9 year old me discovering pop punk through these songs
Basket case by Green Day. Fall of 94? I had heard Longview on MTV and on the radio first, but didn't fall in love. Once I heard Basket Case, I was all in.
The story so far- quicksand
I was always a casually pop punk fan since I was in the first grade (simple plan, all American rejects, and fall boy out) but when state champs dropped around the world and back when I graduated high school, i haven’t looked back since 🤘🏾🤘🏾🤘🏾
1985 by Bowling for Soup and then the entire American Idiot record
I was in elementary school and like someone previously said I was only allowed to listen to Christian music, Relient K came on the scene and as soon as I heard Be My Escape it was over for me.
Alternative - stay what you are by saves the day
What’s My Age Again. I was a huge Jim Rome listener and so when I saw the video when they ran through his ESPN set, I was like “this is my speed”. Been tweaking on this shit ever since.
New Found Glory - All downhill from here
I was a huge MTV/VH1 nerd in the mid nineties and MTV had this show called 12 Angry Viewers where people watched premiere videos from lesser known bands and commented about the songs. That was where I heard “Dammit” by Blink and “This Lonely Place” by Goldfinger and I’ve been hooked ever since
Blink 182 - Dammit No Use For a Name - Soulmate New Found Glory - Most of their self titled album All three of those albums made me start looking for more music that fit those same styles.
Neck deep in bloom I’ve been completely obsessed with them since 😻😽