And to ensure they got the point fully across, they added they never have been punk, have never been influenced by a punk band, and stopped just short of saying they have never even heard a punk song in their lives.
In a recent interview, the band was discussing their sound and how it has changed -- along with opening for Justin Timberlake, and let's just say Billy Martin is not too thrilled with the whole "punk" label that was thrown on the band. He said:
I don't think we've ever once said we were a punk band. It was everybody else that said, 'Good Charlotte thinks they're punk, and they suck, cause they're not.' I'll be the first to wave my hand and say, 'You're right, we're not punk, and we never have been.' I personally can't name one punk band that's been an influence to me. I never listen to that music, I've never been into it, and I was shocked when we started to get lumped in with pop-punk bands.
Really, now?
Let's see.... For starters, in 1999, the band toured with Blink-182 before they were even signed to a major label. Some of their earliest mainstream exposure was to pop punk fans. In this era, they also toured with New Found Glory. And they played the Warped Tour, which is pretty much a punk/pop-punk tour. Heavens, my! How did they get limped in with all this pop-punk stuff?
And how about band photos such as these:
Note some of the things I pointed out, such as the millions of Rancid pins and patches, the Casualties shirt, and the punk look of pretty much everyone -- including Mr. Billy, who, by all photos I can find, only owns that one shirt -- which is made by his own clothing company.
Now, lest you think I'm mocking this new, anti-punk statement because I don't think Good Charlotte "deserved" the punk label or something holier-than-thou, let me explain why I went to the effort to find a photo and make little PhotoShop boxes to point out exactly why the band was given the "pop-punk" label. Because that's the image they projected.
They may have changed their minds/decided they hated being made fun of for not being punk enough/just move on... I don't know. But let's face it: when you're playing punk tours, teaming up with punk bands, and wearing clothing that clearly expresses an interest in iconic, big-name punk bands, people will think you like punk. And then when you play music that pretty much anyone could see was rather pop-punk, even more people will think you are a pop-punk band.
It's really not that hard to understand, nor that shocking. Stop playing dumb, and treat people with some respect. They latched on to what was hot at the time [pop-punk] and had wild success with it. They grew bored and wanted to do something else. Fair enough; bands do this all the time. Hell, if they just came out and said, "we realized we weren't the best band in the world, and we needed a "gimmick" so we went with this whole pop-punk thing and it worked," I bet a lot of people would even respect that [on some level, anyway].
But instead, they just sound foolish and silly, acting like people actively sought them out, just to call them "punk," and they were just a band caught in the whirlwind craziness of it all. And ultimately, that just makes them look kind of lame.
