The 11 most underrated pop-punk bangers of the ’00s

In the mid-’00s, pop-punk was in its first heyday. Pete Wentz and the Madden twins were gracing the pages of magazines, Hayley Williams was tearing up stages at Warped Tour and Brendon Urie hadn’t even done his first backflip.

Throughout all of that, killer songs by the pop-punk greats were being released every day. But it was much harder to love an album track in the days before streaming. So, we did the digging (and reminiscing) for you! Check out the songs below and give them some (extremely delayed) love. They deserve it.

Sum 41’s seminal album All Killer No Filler released in spring of 2001, bringing the hits In Too Deep and Fat Lip to the masses. However, the third single after those two bangers was none other than the burnout anthem Motivation. Take a second and watch the video, featuring the punk-rock bedroom of our dreams.

It’s hard to label any Simple Plan song as underrated as pretty much any track from 2003’s No Pads, No Helmets… Just Balls would be welcome at the ultimate pop-punk party. But the album’s cutting first track is often overshadowed by the morose Perfect or mournful I’m Just A Kid. I’d Do Anything is the please-come-back-to-me tune all fuck-ups needed in their teenage years, so give it a listen and relive your most repressed memories.

The third song on Cartel’s debut album Chroma, Runaway features the angsty lyrics and soaring vocals the Georgia four-piece have become synonymous for. It also shows off one of the best pop-punk guitar solos of the time – whack out that air guitar immediately and start shredding…

The Chicago emo / pop-punks may still close shows with Saturday, but it was Dead On Arrival that put FOB on the map. From their label debut Take This To Your Grave, the music video also features some heartstring-jerking early footage of the band on tour, complete with bad haircuts and even worse fashion choices.

After the skyrocketing success of The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus’ Face Down from their 2006 album Don’t You Fake It, Damn Regret was released as the third and final single. With just as much melodic punch as their previous work, crank up the volume and sing – well, scream – along.

With one of the hookiest choruses of the decade, Good Charlotte’s Riot Girl is a classic “my girlfriend rules” anthem – but this girlfriend also threatens bodily harm on pop stars, so we’ll give it extra points for originality. Taken from the band’s brilliant breakout album The Young And The Hopeless, Riot Girl never got a single treatment, so go give it a blast for your college beau.

The ultimate “What if?”, Almost takes listeners on a journey through some of the most twisted could-bes of Bowling For Soup’s history. They were still at the beginning of their long (and still going!) career, but even then knew that almost making out with the homecoming queen would be a focal point of their legacy.

It’s bold to even consider a song from Take Off Your Pants And Jacket as underrated, but this concluding track has all the makings of a pop-punk powerhouse. From Tom DeLonge’s whiney vocals (oh, how we miss them) to thrashing drums throughout the chorus, it’s easy to love this like the lead single.

In 2007, Motion City Soundtrack could do no wrong. This track from Even If It Kills Me continues with their frenetic verses and booming choruses, and has a little underground flair to add to the party.

At risk of being labelled a one-hit wonder after the success of Ocean Avenue, Yellowcard defied expectations with the release of this track, with the 2006 album of the same name to follow shortly after. It shows off their chorus know-how while getting a little grittier than their previous work. Plus, no-one can listen to that final bridge without air-drumming…

My Friends Over You may get the majority of the love from New Found Glory’s 2002 album Sticks and Stones, but Head On Collision is just as addictive an earworm. And don’t you forget that this is the song that spawned the namesake for All Time Low!

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