Pop punk (also known as punk pop and other names) is a fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. It is typically referred to as a strand of alternative rock that combines power-pop melodies and chord changes with speedy punk tempos and loud guitars. It is not clear when the term pop punk was first used, but pop-influenced punk rock had been around since the mid to late 1970s; performed by bands such as the Ramones, Buzzcocks, The Jam, The Clash, The Undertones, and Descendents. Bad Religion, who started in 1980, were another early band to play the genre, and some consider them godfathers of pop punk. In the mid-1990s, the Northern California-based pop punk bands Green Day and Rancid as well as the Southern California-based pop punk bands The Offspring and Blink-182, achieved worldwide commercial success, and the genre's association with the the Southern California area has led to the term SoCal sound.[citation needed] From the mid-1990s onwards, some bands associated with the genre have been described as happy punk, faux-punk, mall punk, pseudo-punk, bubblegum punk or surf punk.
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