Are you yearning for the halcyon days of frosted tips, wallet chains and Billabong shirts? Do you wish that modern pop music should dispense with the lofty artistic ambitions and return to three-chord tunes about stacking it on a skateboard while crying about your girlfriend? Do you like to sweat?
The lads from Hey Fam are chucking a pop punk party in Sydney on Friday night, celebrating 20 years of history’s purest genre. For those who still deck themselves out in red Connies, vests and fedoras, there’ll be a dedicated SKA HAPPY HOUR, too – featuring hits from Reel Big Fish, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Sublime and more.
To get everyone suitably het up, DJ Levins and Angus Truskett from Hey Fam have provided us with what they consider their sacred list of true pop punk anthems. Savour it:
Blink-182 – Josie
“Yeah, I know. “Dammit” is the golden child but this song is totally better based solely on the video. Alyssa Milano. A cafeteria food fight. Oakley sunglasses and purple hair. Zero contest. My DMs are open” – Angus
Sum 41 – In Too Deep
“To date this is the only film clip I’ve seen which features a guitar solo in a public pool. It’s the greatest pop punk moment ever captured on camera, closely followed by everything else that happens in this near perfect clip for a near perfect song.” – Levins
The Ataris – The Radio Still Sucks
“The best form of pop punk pissing contest was who could write the shortest song. This probably isn’t the shortest, but it mentions Oasis who were a way better band than these guys” – Angus
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – The Impression That I Get
“There’s going to be a SKA HAPPY HOUR from 10:30-11:30 on Friday night, during which we hope to find an answer to Reel Big Fish’s question “Why Do They Rock So Hard?”. Bring your worst business suit so we can all jump around like the dickheads in The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.” – Levins
Green Day – Brainstew
“Remember that one friend who was cool before all they did was speak about politics? Bush did 9/11 AND made Green Day suck.” – Angus
The Offspring – All I Want
“The only song on this list with the honour of being featured on the soundtrack to Crazy Taxi on the Sega Dreamcast. A lot of people turn to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 for the best pop punk soundtrack video games had to offer but it’s important to show love to Crazy Taxi too.” – Levins
MxPx – Punk Rawk Show
“All misspellings of ‘rock’ in the world couldn’t even hide the fact that these guys were a Christian band. I wish Wikipedia existed when I was a teenager :(“ – Angus
Lit – My Own Worst Enemy
“When all the kids starting saying things were lit a few years ago, all I could think of was this band. Someone would say the club was lit and I’d immediately imagine the band covered in a tattoos, wearing a singlet, suspenders and a bowling hat. Learning that this was not what lit meant was absolutely crushing.” – Levins
Reel Big Fish – Take On Me
“Every pop punk artist’s right of passage: ironically covering a pop song of yesteryear in a faster tempo” – Angus
Blink 182 – I Miss You
“The most emotional song ever created, responsible for telling millions of teens around the world what feelings are. I’m genuinely considering playing at least an hour of the 10 hour loop of Tom’s verse on Friday night.” – Levins
If you’re keen to come get suitably loose at DUDE RANCH: A POP PUNK PARTY on Friday November 17th, it’s all going down at the Hudson Ballroom at 10pm. Ticket deets are HERE.
