Which came first, Y2K Fashion or Nostalgic Pop-Punk?

For the latest pop culture “chicken or egg” debate, we cover the return of pop-punk. Did the angsty music genre, which was popularized in the early millennium, return to style as low-rise jeans and Doc Martens platforms flooded the streets, or vice versa? Many thought hits from Green Day, Blink-182, and Paramore had peaked in the 2000s, but no one could have predicted that pastel spaghetti straps and velor tracksuits would make a smooth return—and let’s be honest, Blink- 182’s Country Enema and Avril Lavigne Leave always worth resurrecting.

Regardless of how the cake crumbles, like our butterfly hair clips and wrap sweaters from 2006, pop-punk is back. And I have to venture to say, it’s better than ever. But this time, it’s not just old stars who are becoming new, the rebirth includes fresh-faced Gen Z artists, which of course makes this time’s genre much more diverse.

Maybe Olivia Rodrigo broke the floodgates of both Y2K fashions and pop-punk genre on behalf of an “emotional awakening” but Paramore wasn’t so sure. In August last year, Paramore was added to the list of credits for banger Rodrigo “good 4 you” as a sort of after-the-single legal afterthought, as it sounded like it could have come straight from Paramore’s 2007 hit “Misery Business” and the two bands are said to have collaborated on the song. Thousands of TikTok mashup started.

Interestingly, Paramore announced in 2018 that they were discontinuing “Misery Business” from live sets, but the pop-punk band recently revealed a new album is on the way. Similarly, Avril Lavigne released a new single “Bite me” (and a fantastic acoustic version) in November 2021; Blink-182 drummer and music producer Travis Barker can’t stop collaborating with young artists, and Machine Gun Kelly completely changes genres, from rap to pop-punk in his new song album in the works.

While the popularity of Rodrigo’s debut album WORRY and Willow Smith’s single “Transparent Soul” has crowned two pop-punk revival Gen Z artists, Brooklyn native Kenny Hoopla also rightfully moving up the hierarchy. New album Guilt survivor: Mixtape (made with the aforementioned Lord of the Bongos, Travis Barker) might just be pop-punk’s biggest comeback.

So here we are, clad in baggy, low-rise jeans, platform shoes and pastel-colored shoulder bags, plugging in wired headphones and blasting “Sk8ter Boi” and “brutal.” Everything was fine—or at least the music.

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