I WENT TO WARPED TOUR FOR THIS? POP PUNK TODAY

written by Emily Blake and Catherine Spino

When I saw Lil Huddy starring as the punk protagonist in Machine Gun Kelly’s Downfalls High, I couldn’t help but wonder (in my best Carrie Bradshaw voice) what the hell is going on?

It felt like the same people of the pop punk nebulous environment who would be scrutinizing Lil Huddy for being literally a child on Tiktok, etc. etc. etc. are casting him in major projects. To see Travis Barker and good ole Lil Huddy in the same frame of My Bloody Valentine stopped me dead in my tracks, and led me and Cath down a rabbithole of thinking about where pop punk is going. 

The entire music writers group chat at Wednesday Zine has been discussing how we had a pretty similar upbringing and foray into music-- largely revolving around pop punk, Warped Tour, early, cringe, yet iconic teen angst (see: our highschool angst playlist here). One could argue that the times of Warped Tour, cringy straight black hair (I can smell the hair straightener warming up), heavy eyeliner, numerous trips to Hot Topic is a very old school view of Pop Punk compared to the shifts happening in the genre today, specifically collaborating with the Lil Huddys of the world. MGK, Travis Barker, and the other token pop punk heavy hitters are merging with the non-punks (the Lil Huddy’s of the world) represent an interesting crossroads; is the teen angst of Warped Tour, of the “I hate this town it’s so washed up” vibe now mainstream? Is this tiktokification? How much can we all make fun of Lil Huddy’s new song “21st Century Vampire” sounding like he’s saying “21st Century Tampon” while still watching that music video plus him in and heartthrob Sydney Sweeney in Downfalls High in our rooms every night on the low?

And don’t even get us started on pop punk artist’s dating lives, as they aren’t just dating non-punks but sex goddesses and reality TV royalty. For those of you who aren’t googling “MGK Megan Fox” daily like it’s the only thing tethering you to this god forsaken earth, the couple has been going strong for the last year to the point where they are rumored to be wearing vials of their partner’s blood around their necks a la Billy Bob and Angelina circa 1999. Meanwhile, Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian have just confirmed their courtship via social media this past February, even though many fans used quarantine as an excuse to become private detectives and follow every clue, every incriminating Instagram comment, every MATCHING location, every HAND WRITTEN NOTE posted to Instagram stories that proved they’d been together for a while (you all make Law and Order look like child’s play). Guys. Kourtney gave Barker’s daughter a PRADA BAG for Christmas. MGK carried Megan Fox into 30 Rockefeller a la Peter Pan and Wendy after he saved her from Captain Hook. This is like “the senior captain of the cheerleading squad secretly dating the junior emo kid who cuts last period to go smoke pot and play Guitar Heros with his homies” big and I’m the nerdy freshman girl watching it all go down from the lunch table in the back of the cafeteria. Also an important side note: Nicole Ritchie and Joel Madden (the famed frontman from Good Charlotte and my boyfriend-who-didn’t-know-I-existed from my Catholic School years) had to walk for these couples to SPRINT in 2021.

So what’s the take away here? I’ve wracked my brain to think of any sexy conclusion or deep revolutionary take on all of this chaotic information that I find so crucial in grounding me to my place in society, and all I got is I don’t have a god damn clue how we got here. I mean social media for sure, for sleuthing purposes and finding new talent (if one could call Huddy that), but this new departure from the pop punk I grew up with, loved and now cringe about just bends my little brain! I feel like this is some great pop punk climate crisis, like “if you don’t honor the pop punk of yesteryear, Travis Barker and Kourtney WILL be married on a Keeping Up With The Kardashians spin-off and Lil Huddy WILL win a Grammy in the year 2022”. OR it could be quite the opposite: that the heart of pop punk, the angst, the raw emotions, has now become commonplace, allowing it to collaborate and maybe breed with other mainstream icons. What comes after this?

this article is 1 part of an ongoing series by the music editors at Wednesday Zine unpacking the chaotic return of the cringiest yet most iconic 2010s pop culture moments