The Power Pop Name Game

New Essay & Curated Playlist In Partnership With Lame-O Records

Philadelphia-based indie label Lame-O Records released two of my favorite albums of 2022, OUTOFBODY by Dazy and MTV by Mo Troper.

James Goodson—the one-man band known as Dazy—knocked me out with his one-two punch of loud guitars and undeniable pop hooks. Troper’s edgy indie power pop was already on my radar but I really started paying attention to him after reading his risqué Talkhouse treatise from 2021, “Power Pop Is Camp”:

Power pop fandom is as isolated as it is isolating. Most of the year it’s a pasty shut-in muttering to itself, every now and then it’s an evangelist screaming from the rooftops. To be a power pop “fan” is to be in endless pursuit of the greatest post-Beatles guitar pop single the general public has yet to hear.

If you haven’t read Troper’s righteous rant, I highly recommend it.

Whether or not you agree with all of his opinions, it’s one of the most thoughtful, unflinching assessments of the genre I’ve encountered in recent memory; a well-written, first-hand take on power pop that holds a funhouse mirror up to the die-hard fanbase (…including people like Troper and me.)

My relationship to power pop is characterized by this ouroboros of sympathy and revulsion. I admire it and detest it. I am consistently moved by it and also horribly embarrassed to have anything to do with it. To me, power pop is so much more than chiming guitars, heavy drums, and aching vocal harmonies — and simultaneously so much less.

Troper and Lame-O Records recently turned the spirit of “Power Pop Is Camp” into a series of Spotify playlists.

Troper curated the first two himself, and I am honored to do the third—which launched yesterday. The theme I chose for the essay/playlist is “The Power Pop Name Game” (power pop/power pop-adjacent songs that have a proper name in the title).

Here’s the set up:

Lately, the pattern recognition software in my brain has been keenly aware of the many power pop song titles featuring proper names. I suspect it began with repeated listens of The Spongetones’ “My Girl Maryanne” (Or “Hey Little Anne” by The Whiffs?), but now that my nerdy antennae are up I encounter it everywhere. It might be among the most commonplace clichés the genre has to offer, but it’s also a wink-and-nod from power pop purveyors to fans, like me, who seek this music out.

I had a lot of fun with this, I hope you do too:

⚡️💥 READ “THE POWER POP NAME GAME” FULL ESSAY HERE ⚡️💥

And here’s “The Power Pop Name Game” playlist:

Let me know what songs you would add in the comments below.