Best Of Pop Punk: installment the first

The coalescence of 'music nerd' and 'pop-punker' is kind of unheard of. If you go online, it'll take you like 20 seconds to find auditoriums full of armchair historians and beard stroking preservation societies, specializing in everything from hard rock to free jazz to early electronic music and far flung antiquarian bullshit. I hear the world sing it's ambivalence like a Gregorian choir, but unfortunately, a lot of people are born male, and this birth right insures deafness to the pleas of tolerance. Also, insufferable acquiescence of boring information. But not about pop-punk? I mean, I get it - it's like, sad teenager music - but then how do you explain people who edit Metal Archives for a living? It's not exactly a sea of starter homes and 401Ks down there. Here's a fun thing you can try, as I'm trying to make this a more interactive reading experience:
1.) go on ebay for a long time
2.) buy a vtg oop rare xxl Lividity longsleeve
3.) have a salary above 4 figures
But I dunno the people do need to access the release date of Ulcerous Phlegm's International Problem's EP, so excuse my provocateur nature; it's why I'm considered "the George Carlin of comedic insight". Music nerds are another unloved pillar of this wonderful thing we call civilization, and should be celebrated as such. Just like people who assemble cardboard boxes or refurbish Tamagotchis. The point is this: I will be the stone of knowledge that dams the river of ignorance. I am the hero pop-punk deserves, but not the one it needs right now (paraphrase appears c/o Marvel).
But here it is right now anyway:

I initially wrote this long ass list for rateyourmusic like a real winner would but now it's time to pass on the bounty. See, I have very particular taste in art of pop punk, and now you can be privy to this mine of insight. Without further ado, let's "pick it up" lol wait no

30.) Rivethead - Cheap Wine Of Youth EP (2002)

Let's kick this off with a relative obscurity. At their core, Rivethead were another band adept in the Screeching Weasel arts; they were clearly a branch growing out of Ben and co's grove, replete with start-stop hooks and layered vocal interplay. What really set them apart, though, was their lyrics and delivery. The distortion's caked on, the vocals are guttural, and the lyrics are from the perspective of a bunch of train hopping crusties. Every song on here's great, but check out "Past Days" and "48 Double Stack" for a taster.
Oh, and a 48 double stack's a type of intermodal train car with a luxurious porch to hide inside, if that gives you an indication of why I relate. I'm really alternative and interesting.

Other recommendations: City Sound Number Five EP (2001)

29.) Discount - Half Fiction LP (1999)

If it wasn't for the interbutts, I'd have never fucking known that Discount's Alison Mosshart is one and the same as the dull garage neophyte in The Kills. "VV", I think. I mean, I get it - she was like 16 at Discount's conception - but oof, the amount of personality she displayed here's never been rivaled in her present projects. 
This album is flawless. A beautiful mix of joyous melody, sadness, and hooks out the ass. This isn't the amateurish take on old Cometbus bands that Ataxia was, it's much more developed in it's simplicity. It sounds just as fresh as when I first heard it in 2005, and tracks like "Am I Missing Something?", "Stitch", and the amazing "The Usual Bad" are contenders for my personal favorite pop-punk songs ever. 

Other recommendations: Crash Diagnostic (2001), Singles Collection 1 + 2 (2002)

28.) Leatherface - Mush LP (1991)

This is an obvious one, but holy shit is this an amazing album. It's also likely the sole album on here that'd hold appeal for people outside the fandom of pop-punk (or even punk in general), with incredible melodic guitarwork, legitimately gruff vocals, "adult"-leaning lyricism, and incredible songwriting. I feel like it's kinda important to know that the original release is only 12 tracks, with "Dead Industrial Atmosphere" holding the banner of 'best closing song ever' for me, but the tack-ons are great as well (even the "Message In A Bottle" cover!).

"There's still so many things left to see
Little drop in the middle of the big sea of high and mighty things
Your fascination for larger than life your brand new appetite
And there's springtime in my mind and I'd rather be alive
As though we'd invented it and we danced
It could have been the longest time and I'll remember it
You don't know what's in store when we laugh"

Other recommendations: Fill Your Boots (1990), Minx (1993), More Mush (bootleg 2012)

27.) Martha - Courting Strong LP (2014)

This is the kind of band I always look for and never find. On a cursory listen, it came across as cloying and painfully British, but the more chances I gave it, the more it unfolded below the saccharine surface. The songwriting here is way beyond the ken of your typical three chord pop-punk band, with lots of interesting songstructures and "experimentation". I hate using that word, especially in this context, but for me this band hits that perfect level: they never go into the obtuse or weird, keeping a foot firmly planted in the genre, but exude so much confidence and skill that it sounds extremely fresh and new. I haven't heard a pop-punk album this addictive and interesting since I first got into the genre a zillion years ago. Seriously.

Other recommendations: Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart (2016)

26.) Crusades - Perhaps You Deliver This Judgement With Greater Fear Than I Receive It LP (2013)

I fucking love the idea of taking pop-punk into bizarre tangents like this. If you can imagine a combo of the darker, mid-period Samiam songs with Davey Havok sparring off with a hardcore vocalist, then layer it with black metal lyrical concerns and the occasional tremolo riff, that's basically what they sound like. It seems sorta ridiculous in description, but it never feels Frankenstein'd, and this album carries a sort of 'thematic epic' feel bolstered both by the songwriting and lyrical focus on Giordana Bruno's struggles. If you're interested in a unique, dark take on the genre, this album is excellent.

Other recommendations: The Sun Is Down And The Night Is Riding In (2011), This Is A Sickness And Sickness Will End (2017)

25.) American Steel - s/t LP (1997)

I've already written about this album 10 jillion times, so yeah, I'm kinda fried on talking it up. If you want the full rundown on this and the follow up (Rogue's March), looky here.
If not, HEAR THIS: American Steel's debut is a much, much different entity than everything that followed, so much so that they were completely unrecognizable by LP 3. Imagine a hyperspeed, incredibly skilled and hook-ridden mash up of Crimpshrine, Operation Ivy, and Grimple and you've got this album. It's gritty, fast, tight, and packed with super memorable choruses and riffs. Easily the most underrated American Steel LP, and one of the most underrated punk albums, period. Don't let the rare bits of ska guitar put you off - this album is dark, and there's more ideas on this album than most similar acts' entire discographies.

Other recommendations: Rogue's March (1999), Jagged Thoughts (2001)

24.) Off With Their Heads - Hospitals EP (2006)

This is by far the best thing OWTH ever did. There's not a great deal of stylistic evolution from this point on, with the one notable shift since being a serious decline in irony. See, the lyrics this band employs are some of the most blunt, self-loathing, horrifyingly depressive shit I've ever heard, but at least on Hospitals, the music itself is poppy enough to undermine the darkness of the lyrics. You could argue the ease of putting out 15 minutes of solid material, but really, if the band built a full length off this by padding it with a few re-recordings from their split days, I think it'd be rated a classic.

Check out "Your Child Is Dead" and "Jackie Lee" for a taster.

Other recommendations: All Things Move Towards Their End compilation (2007), From The Bottom (2008)

23.) RVIVR - The Beauty Between LP (2013)

I'd been following RVIVR since the break-up of Latterman, but honestly never thought much of them 'til this album dropped. I mean, yeah, they had some great songs, especially on the Dirty Water EP, but this was the first time I was floored by an entire release. This album has this grandiose, conceptual feel without ever seeming blatantly so. I suppose similar could be said of the s/t, but holy shit, the songwriting on here is leagues beyond. On top of that, the production is so bright and full, augmented with tasteful keyboard and horn arrangements and fuck, the energy is intense and varied. This is one of those benchmark albums I could see people listening to a decade down the line. If you like pop-punk at all, you need this.

Other recommendations: Dirty Water (2010), Bicker And Breathe (2014)

22.) Chinese Telephones - s/t LP (2007)

To be honest, this is typically not the kinda pop-punk I'm into: that garage-y, lo-fi, Marked Men style stuff with fuzzy vocals. Fortunately, this - the sole album of Milwaukee's Chinese Telephones - is packed with great songs that elevate it beyond the aesthetic choices. There's a ton of energy and great hooks here, and they're one of those bands who sounds tailor-made for live shows, which is great since they broke up like 8 years ago or some shit.

Other recommendations: Democracy compilation (2009)

21.) Lemuria - The Distance Is So Big LP (2013)

Maybe it's kinda stupid to pick the least 'pop-punk' release this band did for a specifically pop-punk centric list, but hey, fuck you, this is free content. I first heard Lemuria back in '06 when my long lost friend put the demo song "Trivial Greek Mythology" on a mixtape for me. I thought it was gruesomely cute, and went back up my ass with the Steve Albini bands and whatnot. Like RVIVR, I always 'liked' Lemuria, but aside the material on The First Collection, I figured they were a band who kinda dulled as they grew older, culminating with Pebble, the only release of their's I actively DISliked. Surprisingly, this album is incredible. The songs bounce between cheery, colorful pop and brooding angst, with all previous strengths capitalized: the weird time signatures, clever lyrics, and huge hooks to the fore. Sure, it's kinda cutesy, but there's something too self-aware and smart here to write them off.
Check out "Paint The Youth", "Brilliant Dancer", and "Ruby" for a sampler

Other recommendations: The First Collection (2007), Get Better (2008)

HA HA OKAY NOW THAT's sorry I'm screaming that's enough for today! Join us next time on the History Channel for the second installment! It's funny because it's technically more "historical" than Ice Road Truckers or whatever.