Ahh the early 2000s, when “pop-punk” was still cool, and had yet to become the temporary Hot Topic marketing institution that it seems doomed to be remembered as. Or maybe we were just the perfect age for it; choosing to remember it through a nostalgic lens? Whatever the case, those post-Dookie, pre-sellout “punk” albums of the late 90s and very early 00s will forever hold a special place in the hearts of us pre-9/11 tweens.
Sticks and Stones was a perfect album for its time, hitting right at the pop-punk peak while simultaneously hinting just enough at the oncoming heavy breakdowns and obnoxiously angsty lyrics of an over-commercialized subgenre. This album, and it’s lead song in particular, represent that very nexus. It’s on this track that the kenetic musical energy meets the contrived whiny-voiced angst; but because the songcraft is so authentic, the momentum so perpetual, it all just seems to work.
It’s still impossible to determine whether this was the pinnacle of pop-punk, or the beginning of its end. Perhaps it’s simply meant to exist in that subliminal crossroads, for better or worse.
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