Rolling Stone revisits the early 2000’s pop-punk and emo explosion:
It all points back to 2005, the year pop punk and emo exploded into the mainstream like never before, taking over the world of Billboard charts and MTV. Fall Out Boy released their seminal record From Under the Cork Tree, trading spots on TRL with My Chemical Romance, Paramore debuted onto the scene with All We Know Is Falling, and Panic! at the Disco’s LP Fever You Can’t Sweat Out proved just how vital the internet was to the genre’s success.
But pop-punk and emo’s meteoric rise wouldn’t be complete without bands like Motion City Soundtrack, Gym Class Heroes, and Cartel, who each helped build the genre’s wave into a tsunami in the early-aughts. Now, 20 years later, they’re reflecting on the genre’s takeover as they plot just how to keep the spirit alive.