Everyone remembers going through some phase of listening to the classics of Pop-Punk
like 5 Seconds of Summer, Paramore, All Time Low, and Fall Out Boy. Pop-Punk became
mainstream in the early 2000s after its commercial success in the 90s with Green Day and Blink-
182’s historic albums Dookie and Enema Of The State. Punk rock, the famous predecessor to
Pop-Punk, became widely influential in the 1970s— and is still popular today. Ramones, The
Clash, and Talking Heads are notable examples. Later in the 80s, bands began to combine their
hardcore punk roots with pop influences and established a widely recognized genre of music,
though its name is often forgotten due to the over-generalization of music once it enters the
mainstream.
Recently, the new up-and-coming Pop-Punk band Negative Results has taken up the task
of bringing Pop-Punk back to Atlanta. Their first release was “Alien Girl” back in July of this
year. Since then they’ve released more songs with the iconic Pop-Punk sound such as
“Voicemail” and “Dead n Gone”. So far, there is only one EP out titled “Testing Positive”,
which contains five songs, including an incredible cover of Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever
Getting Back Together” which I would argue is better than the original.
Interestingly enough, their task of bringing Pop-Punk back to Atlanta is a huge task
alone. Atlanta has always been known for being a hub for many different genres of music from
Country to Metal. Many notable artists of almost any genre are either from Atlanta, or they spent
part of their recording career in the bustling Capital of Atlanta. Now, R&B, Rap, Soul, and Hip-
Hop now dominate Atlanta’s output of music. Don’t get me wrong, Atlanta is still known for its
diversity in music and culture, with artists of all genres still making it big in Atlanta. But Pop-
Punk is still making the journey back to its former status as one of the leading music genres of
Atlanta.
With big ambitions and exciting rhythms, Negative Results is more than prepared to
revolutionize the Pop-Punk scene. And I, for one, am optimistic about Negative Results’ future
in the music industry. As someone who listened to Pop-Punk and Rock for most of my life, I am
looking forward to hearing more from this band of hometown heroes.
Photo Credits: http://www.masqueradeatlanta.com/
