The 10 Best Pop-Punk Songs You Blasted at the Skatepark
The post The 10 Best Pop-Punk Songs You Blasted at the Skatepark appeared first on Consequence.
It’s a hot summer day and the session is kicking off at the local skatepark. Bowls are carved, teens practice Trè Flips, and gnarly wipeouts abound. Never mind the heat, there are still dozens of skaters wearing short-sleeve T-shirts over long-sleeves. Someone is blasting punk music, and no one dares to say “turn it down.”
Punk and skating have been inseparable since their origins. After all, shredding can be done with a guitar or with a skateboard, and with Southern California serving as a mecca for both punks and skaters, the two grew in popularity side by side. The peak of this period arrived in the mid-’90s to the early 2000s — the heyday of the X-Games and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was in full swing, all while The Offspring, Blink-182, Green Day, and more dominated the mainstream. It was a good time to be a skater, and an even better time to be a fan of pop-punk.
So, drop in with us for a blast from the past and enjoy this list of timeless skatepark bangers. While there will be other eras of skater-friendly music, these are the tracks we associate the most with ollies, kickflips, scuffed knees, Mountain Dew, and rolling through the skatepark.
Note: Scroll to the bottom to see our playlist of the 10 best pop-punk songs you blasted at the skatepark, complete with some honorable mentions that didn’t make the list!
10. Lit — “My Own Worst Enemy”
It’s lit! Well, actually, before “lit” had a slang glow-up, it was the name of a Southern California rock band whose massive hit single “My Own Worst Enemy” spread self-destruction to the masses. The song was a fitting companion to slackers and skaters everywhere, who likely found something relatable in lines like, “It’s no surprise to me I am my own worst enemy/ Because every now and then I kick the living shit out of me.” After all, with skating comes the danger of wiping out — something that many riders wear with masochistic pride.
09. The Offspring — “Bad Habit”
This one is perfect for going fast. The Offspring — another Southern California band — spared no one on the blistering “Bad Habit,” which makes road rage sound like a blast in more ways than one. After a charged, restrained intro, vocalist Dexter Holland sets a furious scene: If you cut him off, tailgate him, or otherwise drive like an idiot, he’ll run you off the road. “Bad Habit” is a jolt of energy that’ll take you straight back to bombing hills at top speed.
08. Less Than Jake — “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads”
One of the highlights from the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 soundtrack comes from the Florida ska-punk outfit Less Than Jake, whose barnstorming track “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads” serves as a beloved union between ska and skating. While darker and more aggressive punk songs are good for getting your adrenaline up, “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads” is decidedly bright and wholly accessible. A little bit of tinny brass and some punchy rhythms are always welcome when the sun is high, the vibes are great, and the skate session has begun.
07. Pennywise — “Fuck Authority”
For those who would prefer to do away with the “pop” in pop-punk, seminal SoCal punk band Pennywise have plenty of raucous anthems to keep your blood pumping. Look no further than their biggest hit “Fuck Authority,” which provides a countercultural manifesto about feeling misunderstood, disenfranchised, and screwed over by the existing system. Not only does “Fuck Authority” speak to the heart of punk music as a whole, it’s a perfect soundtrack to some scrappy skatepark romps. Anyone ever tell you to put down the board or give you the poisonous edict “you can’t skate here”? Blast this song and stick it to ’em.
06. MxPx — “Play It Loud”
MxPx went for an ultra hi-fi pop-punk sound on their 2003 album Before Everything & After, and it spawned one of their most enjoyable tracks to date: “Play It Loud.” This one urges you to do exactly that, and its on-the-nose, posi-core energy hits like a rush of warm wind. “Play It Loud” isn’t much of an ode to skating as it is to the primal ecstasy of connecting with music and shouting along, but the two feelings can be one and the same. Regardless, it’ll have you grinning from ear to ear.
05. Foo Fighters — “I’ll Stick Around”
Dave Grohl’s pounding drums and and circular guitar riff will take you straight to the halfpipe. Foo Fighters’ “I’ll Stick Around” is a cathartic and thorny highlight from the band’s 1995 self-titled debut, filled with determination, angst, and a chorus that chants, “I don’t owe you anything.” The blistering opening guitar riff immediately evokes an untamed spirit, so much so that you can practically see the grainy ’90s skate video playing out in your mind’s eye. Grohl would expand his project and clean up Foo Fighters’ sound over the ensuing years, but “I’ll Stick Around” is a scrappy reminder to shred whenever necessary.
04. Simple Plan — “I’m Just a Kid”
Few 2000s anthems are as succinct as Simple Plan’s “I’m Just a Kid.” After all, this is a song with a chorus that literally announces, “I’m just a kid and life is a nightmare,” bringing every listener back to those tortured days of adolescence where nobody wanted to hang out with you and every night was “the worst night ever.” But when those days of being misunderstood and cast aside would roll around, the skatepark served as an exhilarating escape. “I’m Just a Kid” doesn’t have the full-speed ahead pop-punk found in, say, Simple Plan’s “I’d Do Anything,” but it certainly possesses the feels. What’s skating without a little bit of emotion propelling you to the next impossible trick?
03. Blink-182 — “Dammit”
Any Blink-182 song is a skate-worthy track, but their breakout 1997 hit “Dammit” is the most apt companion for the skatepark. The song’s major key guitar riff mirrors the ups and downs of the halfpipe, the crashing cymbals are akin to pulling off a sick grind, and Mark Hoppus’ lyrics about dejection add fuel to the fire. He may end each half-time chorus by proclaiming, “I guess this is growing up,” but the band’s raw sound and energetic delivery suggests that growing up doesn’t have to happen until you say it does. So, if you want to feel the sweet pangs of youth like you had in the late ’90s, throw this seminal Blink track on and get ready to ride.
Editor’s Note: Learn how to get tickets to Blink-182’s 2024 tour
02. Sum 41 — “Fat Lip”
“We laugh when old people fall,” goes one line, and it’s even more rich if you imagine older skaters hitting the deck. But aside from the Canadian band’s absurd antics listed in the verses of “Fat Lip,” the chorus — which slams things like conformity, falling in line, and generally being mature — is about being your authentic, unfiltered self, by all means necessary. And even with such an individualistic premise, there’s still a collective energy that drives “Fat Lip,” Skating alone is fun, but when you’ve got your best mates surrounding you, with each one cracking jokes, playing pranks, and supporting your endeavor to skate like there’s no tomorrow, that time isn’t being wasted — it’s being celebrated.
01. Green Day — “Welcome to Paradise”
The skatepark is an urban paradise. Riding around it is one thing, but even aesthetically, a skatepark is an architectural marvel. They’re often situated in pre-existing urban areas, like under highway overpasses, drawbridges, or industrial parks; the curve of a ramp becomes an immediate visual siren for slackers, stoners, and thrill-seekers, the crowds of padded skaters taking turns in a collective miniature utopia.
With the promise of adrenaline-aided fun emanating from the skatepark, the perfect sonic pairing comes from — you guessed it — another California rock band. Green Day’s “Welcome to Paradise,” a highlight from their seminal 1994 album Dookie, is a blast of euphoria that begs you to take the urban cityscape around you and make it your own paradise. Even with Billy Joe Armstrong’s tinge of irony throughout, there’s a major emphasis on “home” — some may see a skatepark and deem it a “wasteland,” but others see it as the place that they truly belong. “Welcome to Paradise” isn’t just a euphoric romp through “cracked streets” and “broken homes,” it’s an affirmation that so many skaters feel in their bones: Paradise is all around us, and all you need to do to find it is drop in and let the good times roll.
The Best Pop-Punk Songs You Blasted at the Skatepark Spotify Playlist:
The 10 Best Pop-Punk Songs You Blasted at the Skatepark
Paolo Ragusa
Popular Posts
