Pop punk
Three chords and the truth about mile 6
By Rob Gordon
The venue where I saw them before anyone knew who they were – we're talking about Metro, 2004, Fall Out Boy opening for someone I can't even remember now. The room was maybe half full. Pete Wentz was wearing a hoodie that was two sizes too small, and Patrick Stump was already the best singer in the room and everyone was too stupid to realize it yet. I remember thinking: this is the perfect tempo for running away from something, or toward it, I couldn't tell which.
That's what pop punk does. It sits right in that sweet spot – 170 to 190 BPM, which is basically screaming at your legs to turn over faster without redlining your heart rate. When Spanish Love Songs tells you that everything is definitely not going to be okay, mile six suddenly makes sense. When The Menzingers are yelling about memory and regret, your tempo run stops being about splits and starts being about something bigger.
Here's what I keep coming back to: pop punk works for running because both activities are about sustaining controlled chaos. You're managing discomfort, maintaining pace, negotiating with your body about whether you can actually do this thing you said you'd do. And pop punk – the good stuff, not the radio garbage – is three minutes of that exact same negotiation. Taking Back Sunday understood this. Brand New definitely understood this. Alkaline Trio has been writing the soundtrack to "I'm fine, everything's fine, nothing is fine" for twenty-five years.
The other thing nobody talks about: pop punk has hooks. Real, undeniable, you'll-be-singing-this-at-mile-nine hooks. When you're deep in a long run and your brain is turning to mush, you need melodic anchors. You need something to hold onto when your pace starts drifting and your form falls apart. A good pop punk chorus is a lifeline. It's permission to feel everything – the anger, the nostalgia, the ridiculous optimism that maybe this time it'll be different – while your feet keep hitting pavement.
That's eight playlists of people who get it. Start anywhere. Just start.
Top 10 Pop punk Running Songs
These tracks appear across multiple curated pop punk running playlists.
- 1. Clear The Air — Off With Their Heads
- 2. Liar (It Takes One To Know One) — Taking Back Sunday
- 3. Nightlife — Off With Their Heads
- 4. Self-Destruction (as a Sensible Career Choice) — Spanish Love Songs
- 5. Sending Postcards From a Plane Crash (Wish You Were Here) — Fall Out Boy
- 6. Seventy Times 7 — Brand New
- 7. Sic Transit Gloria ... Glory Fades — Brand New
- 8. Tellin' Lies — The Menzingers
- 9. 65 Nickels — Pkew Pkew Pkew
- 10. A Favor House Atlantic — Coheed and Cambria
Frequently Asked Questions
What pace should I run to pop punk?
Tempo runs and anything faster. Look, if you're doing true recovery pace – and I mean actual recovery, not 'I'm lying to myself about recovery' pace – pop punk is too aggressive. But for tempo work, threshold efforts, progression runs where the last third hurts? Perfect. The energy in Fall Out Boy or The Menzingers will pull you through when your legs are asking existential questions. Most of this stuff sits between 170-190 BPM, which maps beautifully to that uncomfortable-but-sustainable zone where tempo runs live.
Is pop punk too fast for long runs?
Depends on how you run long. If you're one of those people who treats every long run like a funeral march, yeah, maybe dial it back. But if you're running long at a conversational pace that still has some life in it – say, 150-160 BPM cadence – the mid-tempo stuff from this category works great. Alkaline Trio isn't all breakneck speed. Brand New has songs that breathe. The key is playlist selection. Some of these eight lean harder than others. Start with the ones that aren't titled 'RIOT RUN' if you're going easy.
I've never listened to pop punk. Where do I start?
Start with The Menzingers or Spanish Love Songs if you want something with actual substance. Both bands write about real things – getting older, losing people, cities that stopped making sense – and they do it over guitars that sound like controlled explosions. If you want the classic stuff, Fall Out Boy's first three records are undeniable, even if you want to pretend otherwise. Taking Back Sunday if you're feeling nostalgic for a time you might not have actually lived through. Don't start with the radio hits. Start with the deep cuts on these playlists.
Does pop punk work for interval training?
Absolutely. Pop punk is built for intervals – short, intense bursts with just enough recovery before the next one hits. Most pop punk songs have a structure that mirrors interval work: verse builds tension, chorus explodes, bridge gives you thirty seconds to remember you're alive. For 400m repeats or mile repeats, this is perfect. The energy keeps resetting. You're not slogging through some seven-minute prog odyssey while trying to hold 5K pace. Just avoid the ballads. If a pop punk band decides to get acoustic and sincere mid-playlist, skip it. You need momentum, not feelings.
Why does pop punk sound better when running than when sitting still?
Because pop punk is about movement and urgency, and sitting still kills both. When you're running, especially when it hurts, the urgency makes sense. The big emotions don't seem ridiculous when you're negotiating with your body about the next mile. Brand New screaming about being seventeen forever sounds absurd in your living room but profound at mile eight. It's the same reason punk works in basements and not arenas. Context matters. Pop punk needs friction – sweat, effort, stakes. Running provides all three. It transforms what could be teenage melodrama into fuel.