Before The Wonder Years released The Upsides, the state of Pop Punk was in a strange place. There was a period of time where the majority of bands we're either catering to the hardcore scene or the pop scene. This is not to say that bands we're not attempting to be Pop Punk bands, they just we're not seeing the success or the attention that was given to pop punk bands before them. For some reason, I don't exactly know why, The Wonder Years changed this.
When The Wonder Years did release The Upsides, it was as if they took a defibrillator and jump started the heart of the Pop Punk scene. All of a sudden, kids we're very much getting back into Pop Punk. At least that is how it seems.
The phenomena that The Upsides created needs to qualification. If you are reading this, I am sure you already know what I am talking about. Its like everyone went out and got a "I'm not sad anymore" tattoo, or took a picture of them holding a piece of cardboard that read the same. There was even a company manufacturing bracelets with the slogan on it. It took on a persona much larger than just an album. It became a lifestyle; a mantra.
Although The Wonder Years helped reboot the Pop Punk scene, they soon became (in my opinion) the scenes greatest liability. In order for a scene to work, many bands need to be apart of it, otherwise we don't have a scene, we have a monopoly.
Lets now juxtapose this with what I will call, for all intents and purposes, the Drive-Thru Era of Pop Punk. If you don't know what I am talking about, I suggest you wikipedia that shit now. Spend the next 3 hours reading about the bands on that label and then come back to this blog.
Aside from the giants like Blink-182 and Green Day, the bands on Drive-Thru Records dominated the Pop Punk scene. And what was great about them is that each band offered a unique and interesting sound of their own. Bands that really stick out are New Found Glory, The Movielife, Allister, Home Grown, Fenix TX, Something Corporate, The Starting Line, Rx Bandits, Midtown, Senses Fail, Finch, Day at the Fair, Houston Calls, The Early November, Dashboard Confessional, Hidden in Plain View, Hellogoodbye and Halifax. Once again, if you don't know these bands, go look them up.
These bands offered diversity and flavor to the scene. Chances are if you knew about one of these bands, you were a fan of at least 3 others on the label, and they didn't necessarily had to have been a Pop Punk band. As a whole, they were putting out music that more people could relate to, that had a timeless message and was catchy enough to be on the radio while still preserving the integrity of the scene. The Drive-Thru Era, in my opinion, were the Golden Years of Pop Punk. Not because I like these bands more than the ones that around now (although that is true), but because these bands have longevity. These bands will live on forever in the hearts and minds of the fans that were around when they were popular. Today bands will be remembered for as long as it takes for the next band to release an album that kids can vaguely relate to.
I feel like there is little to no integrity today. Today it feels like it is less about music and more about who has more reblogs of a picture of themselves wearing a Man Overboard hoodie, eating pizza in one hand and drinking Arnold Palmer in the other. It seems to me that to most kids its about the fashion and the internet. Where as back when Drive-Thru was around, there was no tumblr, so you liked a band for the music. And you liked that band forever.
When The Wonder Years released The Upsides, it was huge. I couldn't go anywhere without someone talking about it or seeing someone wearing a shirt with Hank the Pigeon on it. Until The Story So Far came out with Under Soil and Dirt. And the cycle repeats. Now I can't escape hearing people rave about that album or wearing The Story So Far merch.
Please let me make this clear. I am not at all upset that these bands are seeing success. I am a fan of both. The point that I am trying to make clear is that it appears that kids are more caught up in the here and now of the scene and aren't embracing the over all beauty of the culture like everyone did way back when. It kind of sucks to think about it like that, but that is just the way I see things. Today it feels like its about trying to steal another bands thunder. What I would really like to see today is a handful of bands that just feed off of each others momentum and energy, in a big way.
