Is It Power Pop?!

PART FIFTEEN: Ryan Allen

Oct 09, 2025

This is a guest post series about power pop featuring some of my favorite music writers. We’ll be sharing a new installment every few weeks or so (while supplies last). Full series here.

Is It Power Pop?

By Ryan Allen

The word “power” can mean lots of different things.

“The ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as a faculty or quality;” “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or course of events;” or my favorite…“the shit that makes your lights turn on.”

When it comes to modifying a musical genre, “power” typically indicates “with great speed or force;” in other words, if something has power—whether you’re talking about “power violence” (a fast and chaotic version of hardcore punk) or a power ballad (Mötley Crüe’s “Home Sweet Home”, anybody?)—it usually packs a punch.

Things get more debatable when you hitch the word “pop” to “power.”

It seems that everybody has their own definition of what power pop is, or, conversely, what it isn’t. To me, the best power pop doesn’t necessarily have to wallop you over the head with volume or force; in fact, some of the best power pop is gentle and sweet.

Instead, the power pop that I’m drawn to is emotionally and lyrically powerful…not to mention powerfully arranged, produced, and performed. Does it have to rock? No. But if it does? That’s cool, too.

Either way, the power pop I love must carry a weight that is undeniable. So, with that all said, here are…I guess…um…my favorite power pop songs? Honestly, on another day this list could be totally different. Doesn’t matter, I suppose. These 5 songs represent the kind of power pop I love; maybe you’ll love these tunes, too.

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“Open My Eyes” by Nazz

I can remember exactly what I was doing when I heard this song for the first time. It was 2019, and I was at an art fair with my girlfriend (now wife). The DJ played “Open My Eyes” and I immediately ran up to the booth and asked what it was. The next thing I knew I owned all three Nazz records, opening my eyes (ha) to the pre-solo work of Todd Rundgren. This song combines a killer riff with Who-esque flamboyance, and a psychedelic, jazzy bridge that seems to come out of nowhere. It’s the kind of song that I love so much that I’ve ripped it off no less than 5 times on some of my records, and I will probably continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

“The Concept” by Teenage Fanclub

Picking a favorite Teenage Fanclub song is an almost impossible task, but if there’s a tune out there that represents my kind of power pop, it’s got to be “The Concept.” The guitars are loud and jangly, the melodies are stick-y sweet, and the lyrics encapsulate what it’s like to lose a love interest after taking them for granted. The first half rocks at a mid-tempo gate, while the latter slows down and puts a spotlight on Norman Blake’s gut wrenching “ooohs”, where you can just feel him realize he lost out on a good thing. If that wasn’t enough, a goddamn string section enters the fray and…man, it’s all over. A perfect song.

“Glad Girls” by Guided By Voices

It’s been said that you’ve got to write a bunch of bad songs to land on a good one. GBV’s Robert Pollard takes the opposite approach, and the man is still a non-stop musical geyser, shooting off one melodic masterpiece after another. To me, “Glad Girls” is peak Pollard; it’s a should-be-hit that does a thing I love—start with the chorus, build verses that are as catchy as the chorus, toss in a psychedelic bridge (hello again, “Open My Eyes”), have a powerful outro, and wrap the whole thing up in under three minutes. It’s a lot easier said than done, but on “Glad Girls” Pollard makes it sound like he just rolled out of bed with this fully formed, which is probably exactly how it happened.

“Map Ref 41 Degrees N 93 Degrees W” by Wire

Ok, now for a slightly more controversial entry. Wire first landed in 1977 at the dawn of punk with Pink Flag, featuring a bunch of short, snotty tunes that were still pretty damn catchy. 1979’s 154 smoothed a few edges and saw the band take a slightly darker turn. Buried deep on the record is “Map Ref 41…”, a water-y little pop song with highly phased guitars, named after the coordinates of a nothing town in Iowa. Essentially, the song is a travelog, pointing out the strange things you see when you’re traversing this weird world of ours, with Wire delivering an alien-pop soundtrack. People might argue that this IS NOT a power pop song, but I’d say that it is based on the sheer melodic stranglehold this puts me under anytime I hear it. Shout out to my post-college girlfriend Courtney for turning me on to this, and so many other great post-punk records that I might not have heard if it wasn’t for her.

“Changes” by Sugar

Trying to land on a final song was tough. Do I go Beatles? (Too easy.) What about Big Star? (Too expected.) Or maybe something weird and outlier-y like Spoon or Pixies? But then I remembered I just saw Texas Is The Reason and Ted Leo about a week ago, and they covered “Changes” by Sugar, and man, I’m not sure there’s another song on this planet that sounds more perfect to my ears. The guitars are saturated and raging, the drums and bass relentlessly pound, and a post-Hüsker Dü Bob Mould finds his footing as the pop songsmith he was always destined to be. When he sings “We need to agree/we need to make some changes” it sounds like a desperate cry for somebody to wake up and evolve, and it hits harder now than when I heard it as a teenager.

Ryan Allen is the lead singer for loud pop band Extra Arms. He spent his mid-20s fronting eccentric post-punk rockers Thunderbirds Are Now!, touring the world and getting props from the likes of Pitchfork, Stereogum, Rolling Stone and more. Since 2010 he has released an avalanche of material, including three Extra Arms full length records and countless solo albums—including his latest, One Week Off.