#972 pop-punk tracks circa the early '00s with whiny lead vocals

Before you start this post, please scroll down, click the first link, and let it play as you read for a fuller, more comprehensive experience.

This is an extremely specific thing to hate. I'm talking EARLY '00s POP-PUNK TRACKS WITH WHINY VOCALS. ALL OF IT. Think of a pop-punk track. Was it released in the early '00s? Does it have whiny vocals? Above all, did it reach the top 5 on TRL? Was it retired from TRL from being played so goddamn often? Anything that falls under this umbrella I hate with a fiery passion.

A lot of people I grew up with/went to school with/am still forcibly aware of because of the Internet connect early '00s pop-punk with great memories of their formative years. This includes: becoming a tween/teen, connecting with "real" musician-based music for the first time (/becoming a "music snob"), going to their first concert, losing some sort of virginity, forging some sort of identity, chewing gum, not giving a fuck, finding a "scene," writing lyrics in ballpoint pen on the rubber parts of a pair of SCUFFED UP converse all-stars-- etc. So like, basically, they hear something by Blink 182 and feel a warm nostalgia. I, in turn, feel annoyed, annoyed, annoyed, and also annoyed.

A few years ago, Blink 182, after going on an indefinite hiatus after the pop-punk craze of the late 90's/early to mid '00s died down, decided they'd get back together and go on a reunion tour. You better fucking BELIEVE basically everyone you and I knew in middle/high school were first in line for tickets. I was like "huh." Music is subjective and I'm not judging you if you still like Blink 182 as an adult who has probably been exposed to a billion better, more creative bands, because you connect them to a certain nostalgic period in your life and feel a connection to them for that reason. I think that's like, nice. It's nice as fuck, actually. BUT to actually try to say that they're one of the best bands, musically, of all time, etc. (which is something I read a lot of via facebook statuses, etc.) is kind of weird to me. I mean, they certainly inspired a lot of other bands, which is cool. But were the bands they inspired any better than Blink 182 themselves? None that I'm aware of (correct me if I'm wrong). I heard a lot of Good Charlotte's and Sum-41's and PANIC AT THE DISCO'S citing them as inspirations, but is that even, like, a good thing? Is it enough to be calling them some GREAT band? I don't know. I don't think so but I'm not educated in music at all. I'm just saying this as someone who watched shitloads of TRL in the early '00s.

Personally, I hate this music, and it's not even because it fucks with the sanctity of punk, pop, rock n' roll, or whatever; it probably has a lot to do with the fact that I connect it with the vibe or atmosphere that was present at my particular High School which was like, if you were in a terrible metal or pop-punk band, you were high on the popularity totem pole (with a few exceptions obviously, but overall). Our school was horrible at sports, so making a sports team was pretty meaningless when compared to being able to strum a few power chords and sing in a whiny voice at the annual Battle of the Bands competition. You better fucking BELIEVE people had on wristbands. Wristbands, baby, for when we sweat in the MOSH PIT in the AUDITORIUM at our SUBURBAN HIGH SCHOOL at 8:45 PM.

Well anyway, we've gotten off topic here because my bitterness about my entire childhood experience got in the way.

Here's a list of a few songs I loathe from this time period, just so you can get a feel for it.

01. Vindicated by Dashboard Confessional. This song is KING of this post even though it peaked in popularity toward the mid '00s. All I need is to hear one line of this guy singing this song and I feel undeniable hate and annoyance instantly.

02. Miss You by Blink 182. Tom Delonge's stupid fucking voice is a piece of fucking shit compared to the other guy's. Actually, it's a piece of shit compared to any other sound in the world. I'd rather hear a giant metal claw scrape against a chalkboard for 3 minutes than this song. Maybe I should've limited my Blink 182 rant to only the songs Tom sings lead on. Whatever, it's too late now. Pretend I did. I only know Tom's full name because it's burned into the "hate" section of my brain. His voice repulses me on such a personal level. Every time I hear it it's like someone's yelling "fuck you" at me really loudly, like, right in my face.

WHERE AWWWRRRR YOOOUUU? AND OYM SO SAWWRRYYYY. I CANNOT SLEEP, I CANNOT DREAM TANOIGHT.

03. Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard. Nigh-height.

04. Taking Back Sunday - Cute Without the E. HOLY WOW, you guys. I just listened to this for purely journalistic purposes (because I owe you the best blogs possible.) WOW. This is worse than I even remember it being. I heard the first line of vocals and actually considered deafening myself to fully prevent ever having to hear them again. I mean, right now I was able to pause it and move on with my life, but what about in the future? This song kills me on a whole crazier level when I think of how EXTRAORDINARILY popular Taking Back Sunday was amongst the coolest of the cool altz at my school. This was "the shit". Think about that! WOW.

05. New Found Glory - All Downhill From Here. I actually laughed out loud when the vocals of this one started. How the fuck was this taken seriously by human beings? I know we were teens... I know. But how?

06. Avril Lavigne - Complicated. Here's the First Lady of early '00s pop-punk with her first hit single wherein she bemoans her alt bff becoming a preppy fake asshole who doesn't like trashing stupid mainstream stores at the mall with her to pass the time because he's all like, "the employees at these stores make next to nothing, isn't it kind of bullshit to ride mini ATVs and fuck with their displays when it doesn't affect 'the man' at all, just the people working there to put themselves through college and/or support their families" and she and her crew were like, wow fuck you and your country club cardigan ASSHOLE. Go listen to U2 or something, DAD.

Her vocals slice through me on this track like no other. They're whiny as shit, especially the last "noOOOoooOO--Ooooo" that closes out the song.

07. Addicted by Simple Plan. I'm a dick. I'm addicted to you. SICK wordplay on the part of the guy who writes the lyrics in this band. Coming from a band with an album titled "No pads, no helmets... just balls" you're gonna have to expect some CLEVER SHIT from these dudes. The song is terrible. The lead singer's voice, at the very least, sounds like a pile of bullshit. I picked this one because I'm pretty sure it was their first single or something, but honestly, any one of their songs fits here. He sounds like shit in ALL OF THEM. Just whiny and shitty and awful. WHOA okay, I just decided to google what their actual first single was. It was this song called I'm Just a Kid. Please, if you do nothing else today, LISTEN TO THIS SONG.

I'm just a kid and life is a nightmare / I'm just a kid and I know that it's not fair / Nobody cares because I'm alone/ and the world is having more fun than me.

The world is having more fun than me.

I just did some more research and the song was released in 2002, and the guy writing this shit was born in 1981. That means these lyrics were written in a sincere fashion by a 20/21 year old man. 20 years old, guys. We have it good with Taylor Swift in 2011. We have it really fucking good. She's Shakespeare in comparison to what teens were (apparently) relating to in the early '00s. This has taken a depressing turn, so I'll end here.

Needless to say, I HATE IT!!!

What's your most hated song from this era in pop-culture history???? REPLY BELOW.