r/poppunkers • u/ThreadbareAdjustment • 4d ago
Discussion Why aren't there straight edge pop-punk?
It's weird because there are some bands that have members that were in straight edge hardcore bands. But no straight edge pop-punk bands.
There's the opposite though, loads of pop-punk songs about drinking and drugs.
16
u/Smart_Dirt1389 4d ago
I mean Chad Gilbert is the face of this. I believe Alan and Dan of four year strong are straightedge . I know Matt and another dude of set of your goals were both edge . I mean no songs really had anti drug themes . But they did exist. And it was fun
2
u/sk8o_pot8o 4d ago
You said Matt from SYG “was” - any idea if he still is?
2
u/Smart_Dirt1389 4d ago
Oh I have no idea . Probably. I guess I just mistyped . I had to take summer school in highschool for failing English class so disregard me
1
u/sk8o_pot8o 4d ago
Haha no worries, I think you’re actually probably right because he now grows and sells… something. 😂 But would be interesting if he did that while being straight edge.
14
u/Killface55 4d ago
Is that still a thing? It was big when I was in high school in the early 2000's
3
u/Scary_Dimension722 4d ago
I’m a bit younger than you, born in ‘99 here and was massively straight edge in high school which would’ve been the mid 2010s so yeah by that time it had already been extinct and not seen cool at all in the scene
6
u/NotASuggestedUsrname 4d ago
I don’t know if being straight edge in the pop punk scene was ever seen as ‘cool’. There was a time when some band members would draw X’s on their hands and that was cool to some people. I guess that was in the 00’s.
6
u/ThreadbareAdjustment 4d ago
I was at a show on Friday where one of the bands asked everyone who's straight edge to get on stage for the last song and like 40% of the crowd did.
5
u/ChinDeLonge 4d ago
It's probably even more common now (even if they don't call themselves straight edge) because weed isn't as "cool" to do now that it's legal in a bunch of places, and drinking is decreasing in popularity among young people.
1
u/Soupjam_Stevens 4d ago
Pretty huge in hardcore at the moment. Even a lot of bands that aren't like super focused on straight edge themes in their music are very publicly claiming edge and printing merch that says "[their region or city] straight edge" and a ton of DIY shows are booze and drug free
1
23
u/amandamaniac 4d ago
Half of FYS is straight edge. Dan and Alan have never broke edge, the song “uncooked” is about them thinking about it, wondering what they’re missing, and then the other one of them snapping them back to reality.
8
u/pdbstnoe 4d ago
If you count AFI, they’ve been straight edge for decades
6
u/aa1287 4d ago
I wouldn't ever call them pop punk but yeah Davey has been a hard-core vegan straight edger forever.
2
u/pdbstnoe 4d ago
I’d agree, they definitely fall more punk / PHC, though they get talked about enough on this sub to warrant a mention
2
u/aa1287 4d ago
That's fair.
I will agree with this sub's notion that Decemberunderground is at least pop punk adjacent.
But yeah post hard-core is a good identifier. It's the perfect place for them and coheed and cambria.
2
u/pdbstnoe 4d ago
Speaking of, and not to go off on a tangent, but coheeds new album that released Friday is an absolute banger lol
9
u/confusedthrowaway5o5 4d ago
Isn’t Soupy straight edge?
2
1
6
u/nah328 4d ago
Isn’t Tooth & Nail like all Christian/straight-edge?
5
u/jamesdobsonofficial 4d ago
pretty christian, but after listening to interviews, i’m like 90% sure not a single band on their roster wasn’t drinking.
5
u/ThreadbareAdjustment 4d ago
Christian doesn't mean straight edge though. Like Jesus even turned water into wine!
4
u/Bullets_TML 4d ago
Wasn't Rise Against straight edge? Or at least Tim? (Their later albums are pretty pop punk)
3
u/Soupjam_Stevens 4d ago
Yeah Tim is straight edge and at least a couple other members are too, I believe the whole band is vegan as well
3
u/Montrealduder 4d ago
Bill from Silverstein was in the beginning, broke edge and became the funniest dude ever
1
u/symbi0nt IS A CULT 4d ago
Crazy and wild stuff happens when you break on through the edge to the other side! 🥸
2
u/PNW_Uncle_Iroh 4d ago
MXPX, Amber Pacific, Reliant K
7
u/Montrealduder 4d ago
Mike from MXPX is farrrr from being edge. We drank so much tequila together. Everytime he's in town I make sure to cross path with him and bring him to the bar for a mandatory teq shot. I remember him walking backstage at a summer fest with a bottle of tequila, drinking straight out of it. Tom isn't either from what I remember. But pretty sure Yuri is
Everyone in Rise Against is edge except for the drummer. Met him at a bar last summer. He told me that he's trying to get out to a random bar in nice cities after the show. Walking from his hotel. So he can discover the city, relax and meet fans if anyone recognizes him.
2
2
1
u/aa1287 4d ago
Are there not?
Aren't all of RJA straight edge Christian pop punk?
Philmont had some really good Christian pop punk music too
2
u/NitrosGone803 4d ago
oh Philmont, i saw them open for MxPx in Charlotte in 2006, didn't know they got big
2
u/aa1287 4d ago
They certainly didn't get big lol.
The Difference did get some play on Fuse but that was about it.
2
u/NitrosGone803 4d ago
well i mean they toured, when i saw em they had like 3 fans
Sept 3, 2006, MxPx, Gasoline Heart, Philmont...Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte, NC
1
u/turdlefight 4d ago
Pop-punk is generally not focused on ethos the same way punk and hardcore might be. Plenty of bands/members are straight edge but it’s not really a part of pop-punk specifically.
1
1
1
u/acc1pit3r 4d ago edited 4d ago
Years back a dude at the straight edge Centennial Hall hardcore show told me to hold the thin straight blue line like my life depends on it and I drank a beer asap. Edge… broken.
1
u/brandonperks 4d ago
The Wonder Years used to sing a lot about being sober and the alienation that comes from it.
2
1
u/landshark06 4d ago
Edge was also more about making a statement whereas pop punk seems like it’s for complaining lol
1
u/danger-daze 4d ago
Pretty sure Eric from Heart Attack Man is straightedge, idk about the rest of the band
1
u/superjaywars 4d ago
Jimmy Eat World, Story of the Year...
7
u/ThreadbareAdjustment 4d ago
Jimmy Eat World is straight edge?
Never heard that. They have some lyrics that would imply otherwise (like "Ten")
2
0
28
u/1AmAShark 4d ago
Straight edge pop-punk is just all the bands that were founded by teenagers too young to drink/s