> Many bands without any mainstream success still play pop punk. The irony extends to the fact that while someone can play in the style of pop without being ma

> Many bands without any mainstream success still play pop punk. The irony extends to the fact that while someone can play in the style of pop without being mainstream, they cannot literally be pop until they're popular. But if pop requires being popular and punk requires shunning the mainstream, pop punk couldn't exist. The fact that it does is therefore a bit of a paradox.