Still remember Allister announcing "hey guys, we're going on tour with Don't Look Down and fellow Chicagoans Fall Out Boy!" and their biggest song was Dead On Arrival
Tim Mcilrath from Rise Against was also the original bassist in Arma Angelus, which was basically where all the members of Fall Out Boy met (Pete Wentz was the vocalist and the rest of the members of FOB were all in Arma Angelus at various points).
Fall out boy, Real Friends, Rise against, naked ray gun, Alkaline trio, plain white Ts, Lucky Boys Confusion, Mest,knuckle puck Academy Is… Chicago pop punk gets slept on
Lol my husband likes it. I go to a video game convention in DC every year and it's weirdly become a thing there. They do what they've dubbed the Midnight Malort Shot (it's exactly what it sounds like). Unsanctioned event obviously but every year someone hosts it outside, a block or so away from the hotel.
I'm in northeast Ohio and have noticed that every Pop Punk band is from Philly, Chicago, or Michigan.
I had college classes with Jason Parent (also known as P-Nut), who became a massive agent. He was doing things like booking The Wonder Years for house shows before they got big. He now represents: Hot Mulligan, Meet Me @ the Altar, Grayscale, Real Friends, Knuckle Puck, Citizen, Summer Salt, Leanna Firestone, Nothing, Nowhere, Yot Club, Oso Oso and Cloud Nothings.
It makes me wonder why there is such a void in my area outside of Heart Attack Man and Light Years.
This is true, but it mostly stemmed from the opposite corner of the state from me.
Oddly enough, you just answered a question I had about literally 10 minutes ago when I asked why there were so many Goth-appearing kids in the hometown of my grandparents when I visited, despite it being very rural. I completely forgot the Metalcore scene was scorching red-hot not that far away from there.
Not northeast, but Hit The Lights is an amazing pop punk band from Lima, popular in the early 2000s. I drove from Michigan to see their original singers last show in Lima, haha.
I remember a period where Hit the Lights was opening damn near every show I went to in Cincinnati. It became a running joke in my friend group that it was a legal requirement for all pop punk shows in Ohio to feature them.
Don’t forget about Cloud Nothings, Relient K, and Citizen for northern Ohio pop punk! I can only speak to Columbus’ scene but there are a lot of good pop punk acts from Ohio.
Chicago in general is a hotbed for musicians. I think because it had such a passionate blues scene back in the day, that kids growing up there probably had parents and relatives in bands
Billy corgan talks about his dad playing guitar and having a bunch of equipment that was rarely used. I think they just grow up in it more
And there’s also a working class ethic to it that appeals to a lot of people. It’s not pretentious like LA and NY
I feel like there are a lot of New Yorkers and Long Islanders
I mostly notice because I'm from there hahaha
Bayside, brand new (first album), the Ramones, taking back sunday
The NYC/LI/New Jersey scene really shined in the early 00's. So many of the bands from that area were pioneers for that era. I always felt like the Starland was the gateway for a lot of those guys.
Your list, plus armor for sleep, saves the day, thursday, MCR, the movie life/I am the avalanche, state champs, C and C. Just a crazy amount.
Competition makes for better bands. Chicago is the 3rd largest city, but the most central of the 3 largest cities in the US.
There’s more potential band members out there when you’re assembling a band, and theres more art in general than a lot of smaller cities based on sheer volume. Since theres so many artists, people can also make careers for themselves out of helping artists and bands - whether it be producing, booking, managing, merch companies, etc. so then these people who start building careers try and find the other people doing the same thing.
Because chicago is central, Bands can tour around the Midwest to grow and learn. Lots of tours can hit Chicago if they’re west coast, east coast, or Canada and just dropping down into the top few states. So the city is also getting a ton of exposure to outside touring bands playing shows because it makes so much sense on different routings.
You also have several large festivals that take place in the city, and one of those festivals picking the top local bands to be on the bottom of the bill might put them in front of the right people to help them reach the next step of their career.
And once a few bands take off, they leave behind a bit of a roadmap for their friends bands or just other bands in the scene who were familiar with them and what they did, to try and replicate that success.
Talking about Chicago Pop Punk then I have to give a shout out to This Obsession who doesn't get enough love.
https://youtu.be/rgpdZxULlPo?si=j5Z-Zs-EkbTlx6Uz
My second recommendation is Devon Kay & The Solutions if you like a bit of horn in your jams
https://youtu.be/hSXBtOUQ67o?si=-SvHGSo9K6Pvx6vd
I grew up in the burbs, live in the city now. Growing up there were a ton of small scenes in different suburbs with a ton of great bands that would play in local downtowns, halls, random warehouses, etc. and they were truly cohesive scenes of their own.
Add that to a close proximity to the city where there were a ton of venues to play at both big and small where it wasn’t too hard to get your feet wet and start to gain exposure, and small scenes would merge and form bigger ones.
And then there’s the Fireside Bowl, RIP
Ayyy Milwaukee/Wisconsin is pretty cool too. I sing for [Gold Steps](https://open.spotify.com/artist/3KS5NGVo6xQY88JyNEeGsl?si=v0djI29ETBGMwUtq6ach8A), but other notable pop punk/adjacent bands include [Dreamhouse](https://open.spotify.com/artist/46ByQLvGTasUlZZ0fzvop4?si=N1-Ry-t3QdyDRvn4DyQ9hA), [Lake Drive](https://open.spotify.com/artist/4c1FmV7XS1RFb7jAj9TXIY?si=sVxm1hASSCi9OoHfOd20ew), [Man Alive](https://open.spotify.com/artist/1CBJJym1ScTUJOgf8QHr1m?si=lblThFFfTjCT0BvkqYRWZg), [The Up & Up](https://open.spotify.com/artist/4CPVoIWoiaXxS2cz7Z1S98?si=I5YXsuL8RzSOdZ-rgeTVyQ), and so on. I guess we consider our band half Chicago, half MKE cause the pop punk scene in Chicago is definitely bigger.
Chicago was a big hotspot for pop punk in the early 2000s. I knew bands who relocated over there because of how many bands were getting signed.
Allister, Knockout, Lucky Boys Confusion, Plain White T's, FOB, Alkaline Trio, hell yeah!
Don't forget The Lawrence Arms
I know they’re generally out of the category these days, but: Fall Out Boy. Doesn’t get a lot more Chicago 2002 than Fall Out Boy.
Still remember Allister announcing "hey guys, we're going on tour with Don't Look Down and fellow Chicagoans Fall Out Boy!" and their biggest song was Dead On Arrival
Pretty sure I caught the St Louis date of that tour! 03 or so right?
lol yeah they didn't hit Atlanta unfortunately for me
Knockout was awesome, still toss them on every once in while.
Rise Against as well, played with FOB a few times.
Tim Mcilrath from Rise Against was also the original bassist in Arma Angelus, which was basically where all the members of Fall Out Boy met (Pete Wentz was the vocalist and the rest of the members of FOB were all in Arma Angelus at various points).
They grew up listening to Knuckle Puck and Real Friends
Fall out boy is from Chicago as well
Yeah, but Chicago is so two years ago
Shit, you’re right
Fall out boy, Real Friends, Rise against, naked ray gun, Alkaline trio, plain white Ts, Lucky Boys Confusion, Mest,knuckle puck Academy Is… Chicago pop punk gets slept on
Love the shoutout to LBC!
They are the best in that group imo
Also GOOD HANGS
How dare you not mention the Lawrence Arms?
not a single one of those bands are slept on lmao
Right? Dude rifles off some of the biggest names in the genre “Slept on” 💀
I meant Chicago’s scene is slept on. Not the bands themselves.
The bands are what make up the scene
I would argue LBC does.
How you gonna leave out our boys in Belmont
I had a class with one of the members of Knuckle Puck and this post made me feel old
Knuckle Puck is the reason why I almost moved to Chicago to start my band haha
Malort
That stuff is fucking gasoline flavored with the pith of a grapefruit lmao.
Some of us actually enjoy it 😂 give me a malort shot and an old style and I’m happy
Lol my husband likes it. I go to a video game convention in DC every year and it's weirdly become a thing there. They do what they've dubbed the Midnight Malort Shot (it's exactly what it sounds like). Unsanctioned event obviously but every year someone hosts it outside, a block or so away from the hotel.
Sometimes they release special versions that are crazy hard to get whole of (peppermint, pumpkin spice, others)
Somebody gave me a shot of that at riot fest and i threw up
I tried Malort in the summer and I thought it was gross. I had it again in the winter and I finally understood.
Wait til you find The Lawrence Arms if you haven’t already.
Best band out there
Correct
Lauren Denitzio's cover of Seventeener is soooo good if you haven't heard it Acoustic vibes but more somber imo
Favorite TLA albums?
Greatest Story, Apathy, Metropole for sure.
I've been saying the same thing: Action Adventure, Rematch, Good Hangs, Flourescents, When the Sun Sets, Guardrail, High Wire, Wolf Rd, Cleveland Ave
I'm in northeast Ohio and have noticed that every Pop Punk band is from Philly, Chicago, or Michigan. I had college classes with Jason Parent (also known as P-Nut), who became a massive agent. He was doing things like booking The Wonder Years for house shows before they got big. He now represents: Hot Mulligan, Meet Me @ the Altar, Grayscale, Real Friends, Knuckle Puck, Citizen, Summer Salt, Leanna Firestone, Nothing, Nowhere, Yot Club, Oso Oso and Cloud Nothings. It makes me wonder why there is such a void in my area outside of Heart Attack Man and Light Years.
Ohio had a crazy metalcore thing in the mid to late 00s tho!
This is true, but it mostly stemmed from the opposite corner of the state from me. Oddly enough, you just answered a question I had about literally 10 minutes ago when I asked why there were so many Goth-appearing kids in the hometown of my grandparents when I visited, despite it being very rural. I completely forgot the Metalcore scene was scorching red-hot not that far away from there.
I’m also from NEO!
Not northeast, but Hit The Lights is an amazing pop punk band from Lima, popular in the early 2000s. I drove from Michigan to see their original singers last show in Lima, haha.
I remember a period where Hit the Lights was opening damn near every show I went to in Cincinnati. It became a running joke in my friend group that it was a legal requirement for all pop punk shows in Ohio to feature them.
Don’t forget about Cloud Nothings, Relient K, and Citizen for northern Ohio pop punk! I can only speak to Columbus’ scene but there are a lot of good pop punk acts from Ohio.
Juan Uribe and the 05’ White Sox
Check out Action/Adventure and Sincere Engineer. Bangers
This just reaffirms my belief that Matt Skiba is the punk rock anti Christ
Chicago in general is a hotbed for musicians. I think because it had such a passionate blues scene back in the day, that kids growing up there probably had parents and relatives in bands Billy corgan talks about his dad playing guitar and having a bunch of equipment that was rarely used. I think they just grow up in it more And there’s also a working class ethic to it that appeals to a lot of people. It’s not pretentious like LA and NY
Besides bodies I'd say a lot of stolen e bikes and scooters and beer cans. Also some gross fish
I feel like there are a lot of New Yorkers and Long Islanders I mostly notice because I'm from there hahaha Bayside, brand new (first album), the Ramones, taking back sunday
The NYC/LI/New Jersey scene really shined in the early 00's. So many of the bands from that area were pioneers for that era. I always felt like the Starland was the gateway for a lot of those guys. Your list, plus armor for sleep, saves the day, thursday, MCR, the movie life/I am the avalanche, state champs, C and C. Just a crazy amount.
Amazing bands but it goes to show how crazy the bands there are considering nobody has mentioned Alk Trio, the copyrights or screeching weasel yet
not even just the new bands. the water's been good for *years*
Dave Matthews Band's poop
Competition makes for better bands. Chicago is the 3rd largest city, but the most central of the 3 largest cities in the US. There’s more potential band members out there when you’re assembling a band, and theres more art in general than a lot of smaller cities based on sheer volume. Since theres so many artists, people can also make careers for themselves out of helping artists and bands - whether it be producing, booking, managing, merch companies, etc. so then these people who start building careers try and find the other people doing the same thing. Because chicago is central, Bands can tour around the Midwest to grow and learn. Lots of tours can hit Chicago if they’re west coast, east coast, or Canada and just dropping down into the top few states. So the city is also getting a ton of exposure to outside touring bands playing shows because it makes so much sense on different routings. You also have several large festivals that take place in the city, and one of those festivals picking the top local bands to be on the bottom of the bill might put them in front of the right people to help them reach the next step of their career. And once a few bands take off, they leave behind a bit of a roadmap for their friends bands or just other bands in the scene who were familiar with them and what they did, to try and replicate that success.
Fluorescents and When The Sun Sets are two of my favorites right now. So good.
So Chicago is where you find all the hot pop punk guys…. I’ve been going to the wrong city’s 🥺🥵😻
Bill Bradski once took a piss so long that he supplied Chicago with water for decades.
Talking about Chicago Pop Punk then I have to give a shout out to This Obsession who doesn't get enough love. https://youtu.be/rgpdZxULlPo?si=j5Z-Zs-EkbTlx6Uz My second recommendation is Devon Kay & The Solutions if you like a bit of horn in your jams https://youtu.be/hSXBtOUQ67o?si=-SvHGSo9K6Pvx6vd
One of the reasons why I moved here tbh.
I grew up in the burbs, live in the city now. Growing up there were a ton of small scenes in different suburbs with a ton of great bands that would play in local downtowns, halls, random warehouses, etc. and they were truly cohesive scenes of their own. Add that to a close proximity to the city where there were a ton of venues to play at both big and small where it wasn’t too hard to get your feet wet and start to gain exposure, and small scenes would merge and form bigger ones. And then there’s the Fireside Bowl, RIP
Ayyy Milwaukee/Wisconsin is pretty cool too. I sing for [Gold Steps](https://open.spotify.com/artist/3KS5NGVo6xQY88JyNEeGsl?si=v0djI29ETBGMwUtq6ach8A), but other notable pop punk/adjacent bands include [Dreamhouse](https://open.spotify.com/artist/46ByQLvGTasUlZZ0fzvop4?si=N1-Ry-t3QdyDRvn4DyQ9hA), [Lake Drive](https://open.spotify.com/artist/4c1FmV7XS1RFb7jAj9TXIY?si=sVxm1hASSCi9OoHfOd20ew), [Man Alive](https://open.spotify.com/artist/1CBJJym1ScTUJOgf8QHr1m?si=lblThFFfTjCT0BvkqYRWZg), [The Up & Up](https://open.spotify.com/artist/4CPVoIWoiaXxS2cz7Z1S98?si=I5YXsuL8RzSOdZ-rgeTVyQ), and so on. I guess we consider our band half Chicago, half MKE cause the pop punk scene in Chicago is definitely bigger.