Then and now: a reflection on early-2000s pop punk
By Jeremy Haas | Oct. 5, 2016Recently, I wrote a story on a pop-punk band that peaked about 10 years ago called Cute Is What We Aim For. They played at High Dive two weeks ago as part of the band’s 10-year-anniversary tour for their only commercially successful release. I was originally irked by the idea of some old one-hit wonder cashing in on the nostalgia of 20-somethings who used to shop at Hot Topic; after all, I used to shop at Hot Topic. I felt cheated after I interviewed the guys from CIWWAF and learned they haven’t written any new material since 2008. Who were they to stop making music for almost a decade and just jump back into the scene 10 years later? Then I considered why the band quit in the first place. They released a hugely successful album in 2006 through a small indie label. In 2008, after getting signed to Atlantic Records, their sophomore album flopped, and they were dropped from the record label.
