Various Artists
“Pop Punk’s Not Dead”
Go Kart

It wasn’t so long ago that the words “pop” and “punk” were just as scary as the words “emo” and “rap/rock” are today. When the mid-’90s punk movement engulfed the suburbs and the mall became a breeding ground for punk rockers, pop-punk bands became the equivalent of Lincoln Park, and bands tried to shed the tag like a bad case of the clap.

A hair more than a decade later, pop-punk is a forgotten memory in the hallways of rockdom, and many of the old pop-laden punks are free to make a comeback. The Queers, The Parasites, even Squirtgun are being talked about again, and the word is good. Go Kart has taken the lead, releasing a compilation of punk gems from the aforementioned forebearers, and some of their modern contemporaries. Boris The Sprinkler are as zany as ever on “Buying Beer for Junior High School Students,” River City High sounds like Samiam before they became lame, and The Ergs sound like they were stripped off a “Fistful of Rock ‘N’ Roll sampler. The best track on here is The Parasites’ “When I’m Here With You,” a fully-charged, heart on your sleeve rocker that recalls later Descendents and Felix Frump. Just an awesome tune.

There really isn’t a bad song on this comp—only missing bands. How could you make a pop punk comp without Weston, ALL, or the Mr. T Experience? I know, you can’t please everyone, but this comp is going to make kids dust off their baby-blue marble colored copy  of “Love is Dead”—and that’s the point. Good music doesn’t die, just bad labels.

Doesn’t Rock l Kinda Rocks l Rocks l Really Rocks