Simple Plan
If you were lucky enough to make it out to The Warped Tour in 2002, there’s no way you could have missed this pop-punk five piece band from Canada.
Simple Plan made a name for themselves with songs fueled with lyrics about refusing to grow up, wanting to get it on with aliens, and clever innuendos. But while the majority of the songs featured on their first full length, No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls, were arguably silly lyric wise, they also managed to show they weren’t afraid to get deep with singles like every moody teenager’s anthem, “Perfect.”
We’ll admit that even 10 years later we’re still not completely sure if we should lament about the tale of a break-up gone bad, or giggle over the fact that frontman Pierre Bouvier sounds like he’s calling himself “a dick” in the band’s single “Addicted,” but we can’t deny the song is still as infectiously catchy as it was the day it came out!
Busted
We just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to include a band on this list from across the pond, and with their immense success overseas in the early ’00s, Busted seemed like the perfect addition!
While Busted never received the mainstream success stateside that they saw in the U.K., it might surprise some of you Americans to know that you may in fact be familiar with at least one of this punk-pop trio’s hit singles. After disbanding in 2005, guitarist James Bourne allowed then newcomers, the Jonas Brothers, to record a toned down cover of Busted’s hit single, “Year 3000” in 2006. Coincidentally, the JoBros’ cover of “Year 3000” became the band of brothers’ first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.
And though you could argue that Busted was more pop than punk, with catchy tunes like “Falling For You,” “She Wants to Be Me,” and “Crashed The Wedding,” we have no problem admitting these silly guys from the U.K. ruled our burned CD mixes and early iPod playlists of pop-punk tunes right alongside the rest of the bands on this list!
Something Corporate
No list of this nature would be complete without the band that compelled us to want to “spell confusion with a K.”
Hailing from the West Coast, Something Corporate brought a more melodic element to their brand of pop-punk due largely in part to the piano element frontman Andrew McMahon incorporated into the band’s music from the get-go.
Something Corporate found success in 2002 after releasing their first major studio album, Leaving Through the Window. Armed with sing along worthy songs like “If U C Jordan” and “I Woke Up In A Car,” it was impossible not to fall in love with this band that formed in Orange County in 1998.
After the band went on hiatus in 2004, lead singer Andrew McMahon found success in his side project, Jack’s Mannequin and though we’re choosing to highlight McMahon’s earlier work with Something Corporate for the purpose of the timeline in this article, it has to be said that Jack’s Mannequin’s debut album, Everything In Transit, is a great piece of work in and of itself and more than worthy of a listen!
Though it’s highly unlikely Something Corporate will ever return with a new full length album or come together for a reunion tour, it should be noted that Andrew McMahon continues to make music and tour to this day.
Jack’s Mannequin released their latest full length album, People And Things, in 2011, and McMahon is currently releasing solo work under his own name. The former frontman for both Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin released The Pop Underground – EP in April 2013 and additionally served as a songwriter on the second season of NBC’s Smash.
Who was your favorite punk-pop band to come out of the early ’00s? Let us know in the comments below!
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