It's Time (Again) for Power Pop!

A recent article on Bandcamp profiles a number of recent power pop performers, and makes a few excellent points on the genre.  The author (Ben Salmon) opines that power pop "has consistently surged as a reaction to some other musical impetus. The First Wave (The Raspberries, Big Star, Todd Rundgren) pushed back against the complexity and indulgence of prog and psychedelic rock in the early 1970s. 

"A decade later, the Second Wave (The Cars, Cheap Trick, Nick Lowe) provided a less aggressive alternative to the rise of punk. And the Third Wave (Teenage Fanclub, Matthew Sweet, Fountains of Wayne) offered a reprieve from the self-seriousness of ‘90s grunge and alt-rock."

The current wave "is power pop rooted in the Beatles (it always is, really); but it’s also deeply influenced by Sugar’s distortion pedals, Buzzcocks’ propulsive pace, and Guided By Voices’ philosophy that melody wins out over fidelity every time."  

The author places the newest generation of power pop in opposition to "a landscape of music that’s been pitch-corrected and snapped to a grid, over-compressed, edited into oblivion and robbed of character" and "an industry ruled by platforms that prioritize short songs and front-loaded hooks for shrinking attention spans."  Well said!  I've only heard two of the artists mentioned in the article, but will check out the others.

This seems like as good a time as any to share a collection of some of my own favorites from the Nineties, the Noughties, and beyond; beginning with the aforementioned Third Wave's reaction against grunge and what was once memorably labeled "complaint rock".  Maybe not all of it will meet your own definition of power pop, but to me these are all examples of accomplished songcraft, ringing guitars, soaring vocal harmonies, and clever perspectives on the eternal lyrical themes of love found and love lost.

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG:  more music from Hypnolovewheel, New Pornographers, Oranger, P.Hux and Redd Kross.