Ahhh... 2001. Sure, there was that whole 9/11 thing and the subsequent stock market crash that was only a warning of things to come, but yet it was a much simpler time. The Lord of the Rings movies were still a fanboy's wet dream, and Family Guy was relatively under the rader (and actually funny). So we hadn't quite mastered space travel like Kubrick predicted in 2001: A Space Odyssey, but America was pretty well off (and pretty well liked by at least some European countries). The only thing more important than the geopolitical atmosphere of a pre-9/11 world is the music that people were listening to.
Believe it or not, there was a time before all this. Most historians
are referring to this period as the Pre-Douchezoic Era.
Now, I don't know if you've heard, but there was this band called blink-182, and they played a fairly big part in bringing this genre of music called "Pop Punk" into the mainstream media. Before you punk experts go running off and saying that Green Day released Dookie in 1994 and they had been slowly popularizing the genre for 7 years before this, just let me say fuck you, allow me to make my point. Blink-182 reached what could be considered the apex of their popularity just after releasing their second big-hit album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (trolololol penis joke) and therefore pop punk could be considered at the apex of its popularity at this time as well. Bands such as Blink, Green Day, Lit, The Offspring, and Sum 41 were cranking out Top 40 hits like it was nobodies business, and within the next year Bowling for Soup, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, and New Found Glory would all be household names. Warped Tour, believe it or not, was a big fucking deal, and served as a launching pad for many other pop punk, ska punk, and alt bands. America was in love with their punk music, and so was I*! So what the fuck happened?
Coincidentally, the iPod was released in late-2001, followed by growing popularity
over the next few years. I don't want to point fingers, but I'm lookin' at you Jobs.
I know you're behind all of this.
Many of the bands mentioned above grew "mature tastes" and thought people would like them just as much if they stopped joking around and made "serious music". There's a reason comedians do comedy and not Shakespearean dramas, which many of these bands learned the hard way as they lost the popularity they once had. Granted, Green Day's American Idiot kicked total ass, but without other bands just as popular/good to surround them, the public slowly lost interest in the genre. Pop punk bands were the comedians of the music industry, and once they faded out of the public eye, many other bands and genres that they kept in check soon ran rampant and remain uncontrolled. Our only chance of rescue from these Gaga ladies and Black Eyed Peas is to have a sudden resurgence in the punk genre of music, but I'm afraid it is almost too late.
There is no God. Bow before Klaatu.
Fast forward to 2011. The United States is in recovery from one war in Iraq, another in Afghanistan, and 3 years of economic instability. The Hobbit movies are still a fanboy's wet dream, and Family Guy has survived cancellation but left its pride and humor behind in the grave. So we haven't mastered space travel like that other guy predicted in 2010: The Year We Make Contact, but America is well on its way to cutting funding to NASA entirely. The only thing more depressing than the current state of world affairs is the music that people are listening to.
Seriously. There is no God. This picture is all the proof you need.
Yet there is still hope. From the ashes of this dystopian world, where millions of people listen to a kid go through puberty on stage, a new Phoenix shall rise. The signs are already there, after all, the blink-182 reunion tour reminded everyone how awesome punk music was and can be. Their future studio album (to be released sometime this summer) has a number one spot reserved for it, and then its only a matter of time before the masses start looking back at the bands of their youth, of 2001, of the good ol' days. Then they will realize that all of those bands: Blink, MxPx, Bowling for Soup, The Ataris, Sum 41, Less Than Jake, Simple Plan, and Yellowcard are releasing new albums this year. It is only a matter of time before Pop Punk comes back to the mainstream, and saves the music industry from what was an inevitable doom. And you know what? Who cares if they suck. We need them.
Keep drumming Travis. Keep drumming your god damned heart out.
* I was in 3rd grade at this time. It would take me approximately 2-3 more years to appreciate music, followed by another year to discover and listen to most of these bands.
