Throughout my time as a "music critic," I've had my fair share of incredible moments - the sort of experiences I used to dream about as a music fan.
In a little more than a year, the time I've spent as an amateur music journalist, I've gotten to meet bands I idolized when I was in middle school. I've played sports with musicians whose records I spun endlessly on my first iPod in high school. I've become friends with up-and-coming artists who will eat a burrito with me now, but forget me when they become much more well-known one day.
Aside from all that, the most enjoyable part of doing my job is still bringing new content to readers and introducing people to new music. But all of that behind-the-scenes action has made me feel as though I'm a part of something notable here in 2011.
Every summer, as the air gets hotter and the weather more humid, music fans everywhere turn to that summertime music - the soaring vocals and huge hooks found in songs like New Found Glory's "My Friend's Over You" and Yellowcard's "Ocean Avenue."
You know those songs from way back when you were in middle or maybe even elementary school. Those songs were popular on MTV (when MTV played music videos) back in 2003.
Unfortunately, the pop-punk scene took a turn for the worse in the eyes of many in the middle to late part of the decade. A sea of awful bands donning neon-colored clothes threatened to drown a genre that was once filled with budding young men writing angsty songs about girls, their best friends and everything else life had to offer.
Well, at the turn of the decade, a noteworthy tide began to turn as certain bands rose up as the cream of the crop in a new golden age of pop-punk. In 2009-10, we saw for the first time in quite a few years a group of bands that toured together, released music together and cemented each other as one solid contingency of a scene.
Last week, I had the privilege of spending a couple of days with my good friends in The Wonder Years, Fireworks, Make Do And Mend and Living With Lions during two of the Florida dates on their Manscout Jamboree tour.
What I saw was not just two days of honest, do-it-yourself touring and amazing live sets, but a group of about 30 people who treated each other like brothers.
During those two days, I realized again what I've already come to know as fact: that we really are witnessing a high point in this genre.
While mainstream music continues to churn out predictable catchy singles and manufactured "musicians," the pop-punk underground scene is thriving on its own.
So as summer grinds along, try out some of the new wave of pop-punk instead of the new Lady Gaga single. Whether you decide to be a part of it or not, pop-punk is rising again.
