I think the answer to the age old question, "What makes something power pop and not just melodic, guitar based rock music?" is actually pretty simple. The answer is Keith Moon (cue 'Pictures of Lily').
That'll work, but if we're differentiating, I'd point to Greg Shaw's laudable, "A few la-la's and hand claps won't kill you." Those alone (or even one) might separate a melodic Def Leppard track from 20/20, The Shoes, The Flashcubes, or even Tommy Hoehn.
DT is great! But I wanted to keep this short, so only mentioned a handful of artists. Hopefully I get extra credit for mentioning Phil Seymour? :) Thanks for checking it out.
I never try to think of bands as power pop; for me, it's all about the song. Big Star is usually classified as power pop, but their songs range is style from "Thirteen" to "Holocaust". About as divergent as it gets. A great song for me just happens to fit what gets labeled as power pop.
My favorite song of 2022 was from a band that is probably considered by most if you listen to their catalog as indie pop or shoegaze (and yes, there's a lot of crossover there with PP) and it's by a San Francisco band, The Umbrellas.
I’m personally a song-by-song guy too. Agree about Big Star covering a lot of stylistic ground,, but the perfection of something like “September Gurls” ends up being a key component of power pop’s DNA (when they write power pop, it’s amazing!) Thanks for checking it out, and for the thoughtful comment. Off to listen to The Umbrellas…
My definition? A ton of "oohs & aahs," soaring riffs, and hooks so sweet you fall into a sugar coma. I also agree with you that it can (should?) be defined on a song by song basis.
From the 'and another thing' files, it's always struck me that power pop border police are often talking at cross purposes. For some, the emphasis is on POWER pop, thus the focus on slashing guitar chords and lead guitar hooks (e.g. Cheap Trick), while for others the key is power POP, translating into enriched melody and harmonies (e.g. The Raspberries).
oh, *I* see ... so semantics and rhetoric are important? OK, jk ... but also: Might as well boil down to a "that's not rock'n'roll" stance. Which always solidifies the ultimate silliness of the whole exercise.
I have a few basic reference points, starting with the ‘70s NYC band the Fast’s definition of power pop as “real rock ‘n’ roll with la la las.” Bomp magazine put out an equation: the punk of the Sex Pistols plus the teen pop of Shaun Cassidy equals the power pop of the early Who.
For me, power pop is something that’s catchy and leans forward instead of strolling. I don’t think it applies to Buddy Holly, it might apply to some Eddie Cochran, and it begins in earnest with “Please Please Me” by the Beatles.
Please Please Me is killer. Perfection. And I'm a sucker for la la las.
I love that Bomp! equation...but even that's 40+ years old at this point. What's your personal update given all the music that's been released since then? Or do you think that definition still stands?
I’ve more or less stepped away from trying to define it nowadays. I agree that it’s a song by song designation; I still think KISS’ “Shout It Out Loud” is closer to a power pop ideal than 20/20’s “Yellow Pills” is, and to the (diminishing) point I still try to classify power pop, yeah, I go back to Bomp.
Fair enough. And love that you're adding fuel to the endless KISS debate! (PS: I plugged your new book on The Spoon podcast. Episode should be out soon.)
Carl: ah, I just posted a filtered version of that quote from a blog long ago. thanks for the history lesson. I hope there's a print/interview source because SkyNet seems to be memory-holing large portions of the golden era of music blogs nearly every time I search. (the Internet Archive helps immensely while I'm trying to dig up 20-year-old track info, and some defunct sites even have viable download links; cheers to that.)
Badfinger, The Plimsoles, and Jellyfish...you're speaking my language !! I don't care what genre something is considered, if it's good music, it's good music!,,,
I think "No Matter What", "Tonight", "I Wanna Be With You", "Get To Know You" define the power pop sound although there are thousands of songs that fit the genre. Some great power pop songs are not always by power pop bands: STP "Big Bang Baby".
I try not to ever wade into the Beatles-Kinks-Who (or OK Go/FoW-inspired) genre debates, since popular music is by nature and in practice a connected, derivative, inspirational, and largely nothing-new-under-the-sun art form. (and: "comparisons ARE odious," unless you're a critic or writing catalog copy.)
SO I think Angelo (last name?) of Power Pop Criminals may be the one who said this, and deserves the credit for a concise summation of that thing people love to argue about while they *should* be listening, and playing their instruments :
'Power pop'? You mean, melodic rock'n' roll with sha-la-la's?"
I agree that defining Power Pop on a song-by-song basis gets us closer to the truth. For instance, I'd argue Wilco makes some power pop songs but isn't entirely a power pop.
In terms of defining what it is as a genre... it's tough to put clear boundaries on it. Nor should we. You could try to define it genealogically -- that is, bands who follow the project of The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks, Big Star, and/or Cheap Trick are by definition Power Pop bands. But that approach is imperfect because how can listeners, critics, or the artists themselves definitively claim which bands are influenced by whom.
You could define it by musical characteristics, but that gets pretty nebulous too. Like others mentioned, texturally, their tend to be 'oohs and ahs,' an upbeat rhythm, crunchy guitars, and a melodic chorus. Thematically, the lyrics tend to be lighthearted although there are many exceptions to this rule. And structurally, power pop songs tend to follow a verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus template... or something similar to that. But as you can see, this is not a very rigid definition.
Perhaps it's most fruitful to follow the pithy wisdom of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's definition of pornography: "I know it when I see it."
It is also worth noting that the artists associated with power pop tend to be white men. I don't think that is a part of the definition, but a notable trend.
Also, country-adjacent artists tend to be left out of the power pop bubble. But I think someone could reasonably classify Steve Earle as "power-pop adjacent."
I think the answer to the age old question, "What makes something power pop and not just melodic, guitar based rock music?" is actually pretty simple. The answer is Keith Moon (cue 'Pictures of Lily').
Damn. I love Keith Moon's drumming, especially during the Maximum R&B era.
That'll work, but if we're differentiating, I'd point to Greg Shaw's laudable, "A few la-la's and hand claps won't kill you." Those alone (or even one) might separate a melodic Def Leppard track from 20/20, The Shoes, The Flashcubes, or even Tommy Hoehn.
I'm a big fan of handclaps and la-la's! And they haven't killed me yet...
Greg certainly knew whereof he spoke!
Amen!
Not one mention of Dwight Twilley? His music never fails to please 😁
DT is great! But I wanted to keep this short, so only mentioned a handful of artists. Hopefully I get extra credit for mentioning Phil Seymour? :) Thanks for checking it out.
Tommy Keene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBkr7rdYd90
Amazing! FWIW: Dave Holmes wrote a great essay about Tommy Keene for "Go All The Way," the power pop essay collection I co-edited with Paul Myers.
Do you have a link to that?
Here’s the link to the book: https://www.amazon.com/Go-All-Way-Paul-Myers/dp/1945572787
Thanks!
Hope you dig it if you end up grabbing a copy. I had a blast writing my essay about Fountains of Wayne for that collection.
O e of my favorite videos on YouTube. Mainly because Tommy looks so happy so absolutely into the performance. Miss him to pieces.
I never try to think of bands as power pop; for me, it's all about the song. Big Star is usually classified as power pop, but their songs range is style from "Thirteen" to "Holocaust". About as divergent as it gets. A great song for me just happens to fit what gets labeled as power pop.
My favorite song of 2022 was from a band that is probably considered by most if you listen to their catalog as indie pop or shoegaze (and yes, there's a lot of crossover there with PP) and it's by a San Francisco band, The Umbrellas.
https://youtu.be/6jPz9qWvdrs
I’m personally a song-by-song guy too. Agree about Big Star covering a lot of stylistic ground,, but the perfection of something like “September Gurls” ends up being a key component of power pop’s DNA (when they write power pop, it’s amazing!) Thanks for checking it out, and for the thoughtful comment. Off to listen to The Umbrellas…
My definition? A ton of "oohs & aahs," soaring riffs, and hooks so sweet you fall into a sugar coma. I also agree with you that it can (should?) be defined on a song by song basis.
Song by song also keeps it fun. Rock and roll should be fun!
I knew you'd be here, Mr. Power Pop...👋🏻
Another great piece Steve. Here's my two cents from a few years back: https://poprockrecord.com/2015/09/27/poprock-versus-power-pop/
Thanks, man! I'll check it out.
Hey! That's similar to why I often default to "guitar pop."
From the 'and another thing' files, it's always struck me that power pop border police are often talking at cross purposes. For some, the emphasis is on POWER pop, thus the focus on slashing guitar chords and lead guitar hooks (e.g. Cheap Trick), while for others the key is power POP, translating into enriched melody and harmonies (e.g. The Raspberries).
oh, *I* see ... so semantics and rhetoric are important? OK, jk ... but also: Might as well boil down to a "that's not rock'n'roll" stance. Which always solidifies the ultimate silliness of the whole exercise.
I have a few basic reference points, starting with the ‘70s NYC band the Fast’s definition of power pop as “real rock ‘n’ roll with la la las.” Bomp magazine put out an equation: the punk of the Sex Pistols plus the teen pop of Shaun Cassidy equals the power pop of the early Who.
For me, power pop is something that’s catchy and leans forward instead of strolling. I don’t think it applies to Buddy Holly, it might apply to some Eddie Cochran, and it begins in earnest with “Please Please Me” by the Beatles.
Please Please Me is killer. Perfection. And I'm a sucker for la la las.
I love that Bomp! equation...but even that's 40+ years old at this point. What's your personal update given all the music that's been released since then? Or do you think that definition still stands?
I’ve more or less stepped away from trying to define it nowadays. I agree that it’s a song by song designation; I still think KISS’ “Shout It Out Loud” is closer to a power pop ideal than 20/20’s “Yellow Pills” is, and to the (diminishing) point I still try to classify power pop, yeah, I go back to Bomp.
Fair enough. And love that you're adding fuel to the endless KISS debate! (PS: I plugged your new book on The Spoon podcast. Episode should be out soon.)
Coo’ beans. Thanks!
Carl: ah, I just posted a filtered version of that quote from a blog long ago. thanks for the history lesson. I hope there's a print/interview source because SkyNet seems to be memory-holing large portions of the golden era of music blogs nearly every time I search. (the Internet Archive helps immensely while I'm trying to dig up 20-year-old track info, and some defunct sites even have viable download links; cheers to that.)
P.S. Many of Springsteen's uses of "la la la's". would have to be parsed and severely weeded out.
All of the above is 100%
⚡️💥
Badfinger, The Plimsoles, and Jellyfish...you're speaking my language !! I don't care what genre something is considered, if it's good music, it's good music!,,,
... and there's only two. kinds!
I think "No Matter What", "Tonight", "I Wanna Be With You", "Get To Know You" define the power pop sound although there are thousands of songs that fit the genre. Some great power pop songs are not always by power pop bands: STP "Big Bang Baby".
Great choices! And I agree that you can start going song by song pretty quickly.
I agree. September Gurls puts a lump in your throat like a junior high crush and that is the key component which attracts me to the PP.
I try not to ever wade into the Beatles-Kinks-Who (or OK Go/FoW-inspired) genre debates, since popular music is by nature and in practice a connected, derivative, inspirational, and largely nothing-new-under-the-sun art form. (and: "comparisons ARE odious," unless you're a critic or writing catalog copy.)
SO I think Angelo (last name?) of Power Pop Criminals may be the one who said this, and deserves the credit for a concise summation of that thing people love to argue about while they *should* be listening, and playing their instruments :
'Power pop'? You mean, melodic rock'n' roll with sha-la-la's?"
It's also whatever Greg Shaw says / said it is.
You had me at “sha-la-la!”
I agree that defining Power Pop on a song-by-song basis gets us closer to the truth. For instance, I'd argue Wilco makes some power pop songs but isn't entirely a power pop.
In terms of defining what it is as a genre... it's tough to put clear boundaries on it. Nor should we. You could try to define it genealogically -- that is, bands who follow the project of The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks, Big Star, and/or Cheap Trick are by definition Power Pop bands. But that approach is imperfect because how can listeners, critics, or the artists themselves definitively claim which bands are influenced by whom.
You could define it by musical characteristics, but that gets pretty nebulous too. Like others mentioned, texturally, their tend to be 'oohs and ahs,' an upbeat rhythm, crunchy guitars, and a melodic chorus. Thematically, the lyrics tend to be lighthearted although there are many exceptions to this rule. And structurally, power pop songs tend to follow a verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus template... or something similar to that. But as you can see, this is not a very rigid definition.
Perhaps it's most fruitful to follow the pithy wisdom of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's definition of pornography: "I know it when I see it."
It is also worth noting that the artists associated with power pop tend to be white men. I don't think that is a part of the definition, but a notable trend.
Also, country-adjacent artists tend to be left out of the power pop bubble. But I think someone could reasonably classify Steve Earle as "power-pop adjacent."
David Laing wrote a really interesting piece about power pop’s country roots in Remember The Lightning: A Guitar Pop Journal, Volume 1.
Hard to deny…so were the members of the inspirational bands you mention above.
You make a lot of really solid points!