Whether you’re stuck at home with family, enjoying a sandy beach in Costa Rica or spending time exploring New York, your summer needs a soundtrack. It’s getting warmer, Washington Square Park is alive with color and the big sprint towards the semester’s end is staring you in the face. So why not indulge in some fun, bouncy and sometimes self-aware cringe pop-punk? Often scoffed at by emo fans, pop-punk is still a genre that’s alive and well today, and there’s no better time to indulge. It sounds a lot better when you don’t have someone in your ear calling you a fake emo. Here’s a set of albums from 1999 to 2025 that’ll have you headbanging on the beach.
“Enema of the State” by blink-182 (1999)
We’re starting off right with the classics. This is the defining pop-punk album of the ’90s, and for good reason. It’s best enjoyed at someone’s rooftop party, where everyone can sing along to hits like “What’s My Age Again?” and “All the Small Things.” An album that celebrates the ups and downs of young adulthood, you can blast both the hits and deep cuts all summer long.
“f.e.a.r.” by Stand Atlantic (2022)
These Aussie rockers released an album last August, but it’s enough of a departure from its original pop-punk sound that it didn’t feel right to include. Its 2022 album “f.e.a.r,” on the other hand, blends singer Bonnie Fraser’s angsty vocals with heavy guitars, tongue-in-cheek samples and hip-hop elements. Highlights include the punchy opener “doomsday,” the remorseful “nails from the back” and circle-pit rager “molotov [OK].”
“Love Me Forever” by Pinkshift (2022)
Pinkshift takes an angrier, politicized angle to pop-punk. “Love Me Forever” tackles mental health, love and standing up to authority. Equal parts intricate and obnoxious, Pinkshift’s red-hot brand of pop-punk cements them firmly in Baltimore’s storied hardcore scene. Given the stark political state of our country, “Love Me Forever” is a reassurance of unity and rebellion in the face of a darkening reality.
“The Young and the Hopeless” by Good Charlotte (2002)
Good Charlotte’s snarky, sardonic lyrics document the life of a suburban teenager from southern Maryland. The experience of being a social outcast and hating the popular rich kids, going to punk shows, falling in love, breaking up and flipping off controlling parents makes “The Young and the Hopeless” a quintessential album. I highly recommend it for road trip sing-alongs and drives by the sunset.
“Don’t Panic: It’s Longer Now!” by All Time Low (2013)
All Time Low’s fifth album balances punk and emo influences effortlessly, spanning misfit anthems like “The Reckless and the Brave” to documentations of intimate encounters in “Backseat Serenade”. This album gets you nostalgic for high school summer nights, even featuring cameos from Pierce the Veil’s Vic Fuentes and Bayside’s Anthony Raneri. A solid staple of 2010s pop-punk, All Time Low makes you miss being a teenager.
“All Killer No Filler” by Sum 41 (2001)
These Ontario rockers went from pop-punk fame to thrash-metal stars and produced one of the most iconic albums of the genre to date, while still managing to keep their teenage toilet humor alive and well. “Fat Lip” romanticizes being a burnout and loving every second of it, while “In Too Deep” sugarcoats the hell out of a toxic relationship. “Motivation” delivers a sense of apathetic self-doubt, across the most ’90s guitar riff you’ve ever heard. AKNF can be played while you and your friends are causing trouble at your local swimming pool — you’re too old for both, but that’s the fun of it.
“Move Along” by The All-American Rejects (2005)
Even if you don’t know every single one of the band’s songs, you surely know all the lyrics to “Dirty Little Secret.” The title track is a spiteful track disguised as a fun, dancey rock song. “11:11 pm” is a pop-punk staple, following the age-old trope of convincing a girl to take a chance on you in the manner of Mayday Parade.
“‘Til the Wheels Fall Off” by WSTR (2023)
This British band’s fast, skatepark-ready anthems somehow perfectly match the chaotic, youthful energy of its album cover — skateboarding aliens drinking beer feels very in character. The title track is a nostalgic tribute to the ’90s and a celebration of nihilistic apathy, while “Poor Boy” trades singing for rapping and snarling, shouting choruses and mixing nu-metal with New York-style hardcore punk in another rage anthem against the music industry’s practice of stripping artists from their roots. WSTR captures the spirit of being a burnout in a very Gen Z-friendly punk package. Blast this while chilling with the squad at the skatepark.
Contact Roshan Rao at [email protected].