The Great Guitar Pop Relay Race

Beatlesque, Beach Boys-y and Byrdsian

This was going to be the second part of a planned series starting with 5 Decades, 5 Great Guitar Pop Albums, but I decided it stood better on its own. But I do consider this a companion piece to that previous guitar pop article since their are some overlapping themes.

---

As a Gen X music writer and editor, I try to avoid only using decades-old references when describing modern songs and bands, I really do…but I often can’t help myself.

And that’s a challenge because: 1) I have been in bands and didn’t always appreciate the obvious/dated comparisons writers made to our music; 2) I’m constantly striking a balance between using relatable descriptions without leaping to root comparisons (“Beatlesque,” “Beach Boys-y,” “Byrdsian,” etc.).

Which isn’t easy since a lot of music I write about is, well, Beatlesque in one way or another. Consequently, I use descriptors like that all the time—but when I’m occasionally at my best I am able to more creatively demonstrate how a particular song or album captures guitar pop’s incredible evolution.

It’s what I think of as “The Great Guitar Pop Relay Race,” although it isn’t a relay race in any conventional sense. It’s more of an internal device that helps me track the progression of certain styles of music I love.

It’s flimsy and oversimplified, but it’s mine. I can picture it so clearly in my mind that I thought it was at least worth trying to get it down in words.

(FWIW: I briefly touched on my definition of “guitar pop” in 5 Decades, 5 Great Guitar Pop Albums—“My personal definition encompasses interconnected or overlapping subgenres from power pop to punk, garage to jangle and beyond to indie, twee, psych, sunshine, baroque and various other ‘pops’ and ‘rocks.’”)

Take the much-debated power pop subgenre, for example.

The overwhelming consensus is that The Beatles ran the first leg of that particular race. Of course, John, Paul, George and Ringo were influenced by artists like Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Little Richard, among many others, but for this specific example we’ll think of them more as coaches.

This isn’t scientific (see “flimsy and oversimplified” above), but for the purpose of easy demonstration, the first leg of power pop’s relay race could look like this:

The Beatles > Badfinger, Todd Rundgren, Raspberries, Big Star

Here’s the important thing: All of those artists watched their musical heroes from the bleachers until they got so inspired that they jumped onto the track to join the relay race themselves.

From there, I guess it could roughly go something like this:

> The Nerves, Pezband, Nick Lowe, Flamin’ Groovies, Cheap Trick

> Shoes, The Records, The Beat, 20/20, The Scruffs, The Shivvers, The Knack, The Spongetones, Bram Tchaikovsky, The Plimsouls

> The Stems, Redd Kross, The Go-Go’s, The dB’s, XTC, The Posies, Material Issue, Teenage Fanclub, Matthew Sweet, Sloan, Superdrag, Fountains of Wayne, The New Pornographers, Lisa Mychols, etc.

I’m jumping forward pretty quickly (and there are countless other artists that could have been included), but you can see the multiplying effect—which is where my analogy really falls apart. It’s more like a relay race where each baton hand off infinitely multiplies the number of runners and lanes.

Guitar pop pandemonium!

By the time you hit the 2020s—with excellent modern bands like The Whiffs, 2nd Grade, Best Bets, Extra Arms, The Speedways, The Beths, Radio Days, Liquid Mike, Uni Boys, Rinehearts, Hurry, Tony Molina, and Wesley Fuller (to name a few)—The Beatles original influence is there, but it’s filtered through decades of permutations.

That includes many of the bands listed above and various elements introduced by punk, post-punk, new wave, jangle, grunge, college rock, alternative rock, pop punk, Brit pop, indie rock and countless other sub/genres.

And that’s how the music we love moves forward.

It’s one thing to respect the fact that The Beatles (or The Who, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Kinks, etc.) ran the first leg of any particular relay race, but quite another to act like they handed the baton directly to a brand new artist 60 years later.

Unless, of course, that artist is specifically trying to celebrate the exact aesthetics of ‘60s artists at the cost of ignoring everything that happened in the intervening decades. Which is perfectly fine since there’s no right or wrong way to make music or celebrate influences, but it does sidestep the evolution we’re currently discussing.

So, if you’re a music writer who attempts to take a broader view of how guitar pop music has evolved since the ‘60s (and where it might be headed), it can all get a little overwhelming. Especially when you’re trying to condense your scattered thoughts down for hyper-distracted readers in the 2020s.

Fact is, terms like Beatlesque, Byrdsian and Beach Boys-y can be the easiest way to encapsulate a band’s sound. Lazy? Sure, but also efficient—especially if, like me, you shy away from straight reviews and generally only write about music you enjoy.

Using one of those descriptors for a newer artist might be enough enticement for a reader to hit play on the embedded track. Then it’s out of your hands—which, I suppose, is a whole other kind of fan-to-fan relay race.

But isn’t sharing the songs and artists we love with each other what fan-based music writing is really all about?

I might describe a song or band as Beatlesque, but to my mind that means at least three things: 1. It is rooted in the music of The Beatles; 2. It is part of the relay race that has been going on for decades and continues into the future; 3. It’s good.

But the dated references certainly don’t stop with ‘60s bands! Get this—The mid-‘90s were 30 freakin’ years ago. I hear that the ‘80s are even older than that. And don’t get me started on the ‘70s…

So, forgive me if you see me writing about…

• How certain songs by Hurry or The Speedways remind me of Teenage Fanclub.

• Why The Whiffs put me in a Beatles/Replacements/Ramones state of mind.

• The Uni Boys’ collision of Milk ‘n Cookies, Shoes and Pointed Sticks influences.

• Fountains of Wayne hooks I hear in 2nd Grade or Dungeon of Skeletons songs.

• The unmistakeable Weezerness of certain Tony Molina and Liquid Mike songs.

• Or why the Beths mash up of ‘90s/’00s indie influences feels like a truly interesting way forward for guitar pop.

It’s not always just about easy comparisons. What interests me most about guitar pop (and all of the adjacent genres I listed above) is how it’s all connected; the generational continuity; the tropes; common threads, and persistent through lines.

So, if I ever describe your music as “Beatlesque,” “Beach Boys-y” or “Byrdsian,” please know that it’s always meant as a huge compliment, and that I believe you are part of something that’s much bigger and more important than any of us.

---

---