Hetson named Epitaph, Dischord and Alternative Tentacles as the three labels that marked the history of punk during the eighties and The Dead Kennedys, D.O.A. and The Ramones as the three bands (that marked the history of punk during the eighties). Hetson said about the new wave of "punk" bands that "The difference resides in the musical style, basically. Punk bands in the seventies had a certain intention, they wanted to write melodic songs, with some flair for pop sounds. Eighties saw the coming of hardcore, a phenomenon that got to change the scenario. And now we're witnessing a return to punk's roots, melodies are being rediscovered." He said that "this is good, punk rock has always been my favorite music. I'm proud of what is happening, you can turn the radio on and hear something different, a punk rock song. The kids are able to choose nowadays, they can refuse the pop crap that's being fed to them, and turn to something that is profoundly honest" and "Bad Religion somehow paved the way for those acts, even if we didn't climb to the top of the charts. Anyway I'm a big fan of both Green Day and the Offspring, I find them both very fresh and honest".
Jay: "The way I see it, this "punk rock explosion? is only 2 bands (Offspring & Green Day). Bad Religion is in the same place it was last year (1994). So there?s no ?punk rock explosion.? (...) When a punk rock explosion takes place, you?ll be seeing platinum Black Flag albums, platinum Dead Kennedys albums. That?s a punk rock explosion. Rich Kids on LSD aren?t doing well. SNFU aren?t doing well. (Rancid ARE doing well). But good bands are selling records. That makes sense to me. I buy records that I like. I have a Rancid record. (...) Do you really think middle America is going to be conned into buying punk rock albums? I don?t think so. I think middle America will, and this is from my years at the label, walk into a store and go ?who sings that song ?You gotta keep ?em separated??? That?s how they buy records. ?Here you go, it?s the Offspring.? ?Whatever, I don?t care what the name of the band is, I just want that song.?"