Will pop-punk ever die? The worst music in the world is BACK BACK BACK!

In a world of revivals – a product of what the writer Simon Reynolds termed “retromania” – some stick and some don’t. The post-punk revival of the Noughties, for example, lasted significantly longer than the original post-punk era. And pop-punk, whose resurgence began a couple of years ago thanks in part to the massive success of Olivia Rodrigo, whose hits draw on the sounds – speedy, melodic, raw – of 25 years earlier, is back with a bang in 2024. It’s not only a case of the genre’s influence being heard decades later, but those who stuck with it are once again reaping the rewards.

This week alone sees new albums from Green Day, who helped kickstart pop-punk’s first wave of commercial success in the Nineties, and Wrexham’s Neck Deep, arguably the most successful pop-punk band this side of the Atlantic. Both have big shows coming up, too: Neck Deep headline Alexandra Palace in March, while Green Day – now seemingly more popular than ever – have sold out their Wembley Stadium concert in June. Blink-182, their original line-up reunited, sold out arenas around the world last year, and the genre has its own dedicated festival – the tellingly titled When We Were Young, in Las Vegas – with an 85,000 capacity.

Why is this genre – in many respects unchanged in decades – having a moment now? Part of it is the cyclical nature of music, says Neck Deep singer Ben Barlow. “The generation that grew up with the big boom [of the Nineties and Noughties] are now tax-paying adults. They’ve grown up and they’re reminded of the music they grew up with.” What has reminded them, Barlow suggests, is the success of Rodrigo, Willow Smith and other similar artists, especially those who have come up through hip-hop, where there has been – to outsiders, at least – an unlikely embrace of snotty, bratty pop-punk.