6 Best Pop-Punk Bands

2. Green Day

Green Day Image I couldn't make this list without the Godfathers of pop-punk themselves. They put their own spin on the Ramones' formula in the early '90s and just ran with it. Truth be told, I wasn't a huge fan of them when they first broke through - probably because everyone else in high school loved them, and I tended to do the opposite of what everyone else did in school. But I've since grown to love the bratty threesome from northern California that, thankfully, never grew up. These guys are now in their 40s but are rocking harder than most kids half their age. And as if the monster ode to teenage angst "Dookie" wasn't enough, they created the seminal rock opera "American Idiot" a decade later, which was then even turned into a Broadway show. Music that both punkish teens and Broadway snobs can get behind? Now that's entertainment.
Contributor

Michael Perone has written for The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, The Island Ear (now titled Long Island Press), and The Long Island Voice, a short-lived spinoff of The Village Voice. He currently works as an Editor in Manhattan. And he still thinks Michael Keaton was the best Batman.