The angsty teen pop music of the early millennium years has undergone a reappraisal. Once derided for perceived inauthenticity, the bubblegum grunge of Avril Lavigne and the spikily melodramatic pop-punk of Paramore has become a dominant influence on contemporary pop, from Olivia Rodrigo to Billie Eilish. Intelligent indie acts such as Black Country, New Road have mined key emo tropes and juxtaposed them with post-rock or folk.
Busted, however, does not fit into this cultural conversation – at least not yet. The Essex three-piece, who this week announced a 15-date 20th-anniversary arena tour, remain on the outside of popular taste and reappraisal. At a moment when the group are banking on their audience’s nostalgia, and critics are gaining a new perspective on the early Noughties moment from which the group originated, few acts embody the accelerated highs and personal lows of British music between the Millennium Bug and the smartphone more than Busted.