Who is the greatest POWER POP band of all time ?

Chad said:
I just took a look. They have Bob Mould (and Sugar) and the Old 97's on their list of power pop. Now I am more confused than ever :grin:

Since Bob and the 97's don't seem to fit with the other bands on that list that I know, I am going with Matthew Sweet or Sloan.
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Oh yeah, the list doesn't make any fucking sense...it's just the first list that I found.

For me, the Police could fall into the genre as far as being powerful band that played great pop music. But they lack the clear influence of the British Invasion. Their mix of punk and world musics played by stellar musicians seemed to come from an attempt to avoid sounding like what supposedly defines power pop. But they would top my list after the Beatles (as I would include the band(s) that created the template in the list for the genres.
 
Yeah, I read the wiki thing, and I don't completely agree, or understand their selection process. I do like a LOT of the bands listed though.
 
Here's a simple thumbnail description to keep us on the critical path.

POWER POP is a semi-popular subgenre of retro rock that seeks to revive the melodic and sonic excitement of the British Invasion to Early Psychedlic period of rock/pop music with nods to new/fresher recording and arrangement styles. Power pop bands are typically Anglophillic in approach and slightly more arty/idiosyncratic than the actual pop music they're aping, though typically Power Pop bands avoid pure camp or ill-tempered parody of the sounds/acts they're using as models. There's a lot of overlap between Power Pop, Pub Rock, and New Wave--an emphasis on short, melodically accessible songs with variations on basic rock lyrical tropes (girls, cars, teenage troubles, etc.). By the late 80s and early 90s, retro Power Pop and Power Pop revival became a decided thing where acts found inspiration in replicating the sounds of 70s groups trying to revive the spirit of 60s groups.

I hope that this definition prevents any more foolishness where people argue that the Kinks or the Beatles or David Bowie are Power Pop acts.

To the OP, Big Star is the gold standard for beautiful power pop failure. Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend and the Exploding Hearts' Guitar Romantic are the two best Power Pop revival LPs.

This is the greatest Power Pop track of all time...

 
It's a "I know it when I hear it" thing. Electric Light Orchestra is obviously heavily Beatles-influenced, but I wouldn't call them power pop necessarily. The Knack is power pop. IMO Power pop has more of a punchy sound with tightly-written songs.
 
Peen Simmons said:
Here's a simple thumbnail description to keep us on the critical path.

POWER POP is a semi-popular subgenre of retro rock that seeks to revive the melodic and sonic excitement of the British Invasion to Early Psychedlic period of rock/pop music with nods to new/fresher recording and arrangement styles. Power pop bands are typically Anglophillic in approach and slightly more arty/idiosyncratic than the actual pop music they're aping, though typically Power Pop bands avoid pure camp or ill-tempered parody of the sounds/acts they're using as models. There's a lot of overlap between Power Pop, Pub Rock, and New Wave--an emphasis on short, melodically accessible songs with variations on basic rock lyrical tropes (girls, cars, teenage troubles, etc.). By the late 80s and early 90s, retro Power Pop and Power Pop revival became a decided thing where acts found inspiration in replicating the sounds of 70s groups trying to revive the spirit of 60s groups.

I hope that this definition prevents any more foolishness where people argue that the Kinks or the Beatles or David Bowie are Power Pop acts.

To the OP, Big Star is the gold standard for beautiful power pop failure. Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend and the Exploding Hearts' Guitar Romantic are the two best Power Pop revival LPs.

This is the greatest Power Pop track of all time...

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By this silly definition (by silly, I mean the need define and label every minute variation of music's already stupid list of genres, sub-genres, sub-sub-genres, etc.), Sweet's Girlfriend album and its titular track should be the greatest works in the genre.

That said, fuck that definition. The forum has been through this before...everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, in popular music after the Beatles has been influenced by the Beatles. Some of more directly and/or obviously than others, but we've all been assimilated. Would it all fall into the narrow definition of "power pop"? No. And the Beatles continued to be influenced by new artists and ideas, so it rather quickly became a self-perpetuating sort of musical eco-system. So there's HUGE amounts of power pop, well beyond this concept as defined above and elsewhere.

As to the Undertones...no thank you.
 
Devil is Dill said:
It's a "I know it when I hear it" thing. Electric Light Orchestra is obviously heavily Beatles-influenced, but I wouldn't call them power pop necessarily. The Knack is power pop. IMO Power pop has more of a punchy sound with tightly-written songs.
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Exactly. However, the Move (pre-ELO) is certainly proto power pop...especially given their emphasis on pastiche and melodic appeal (i.e., they were kind of an overachieving bubblegum band). They were also a little weird, which all great Power Pop bands are. Slightly perverse. A teensy but sad.
 
Dogsinotpalc said:
By this silly definition (by silly, I mean the need define and label every minute variation of music's already stupid list of genres, sub-genres, sub-sub-genres, etc.), Sweet's Girlfriend album and its titular track should be the greatest works in the genre.

That said, fuck that definition. The forum has been through this before...everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, in popular music after the Beatles has been influenced by the Beatles. Some of more directly and/or obviously than others, but we've all been assimilated. Would it all fall into the narrow definition of "power pop"? No. And the Beatles continued to be influenced by new artists and ideas, so it rather quickly became a self-perpetuating sort of musical eco-system. So there's HUGE amounts of power pop, well beyond this concept as defined above and elsewhere.

As to the Undertones...no thank you.
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Enjoy being wrong and incapable of discussing music with people who understand the jargon. Is this counting angels on the head of a pin...you bet. But all fields have their jargon. And nitpicking sub-genre definitions are the jargon of popular music.

It's not my fault that everyone everywhere knows that power pop is that spot on the pop music Venn diagram where longhair music instersects with skinny tie music. It's a failed kind of Quixotic music that attempts to imagine a world where the horrors of 1968-1969 never happened. Devil is Dill is right that it is a "know it when you see it" thing...because it's a sensibility. This sort of thing requires some actual ability to handle subjectivity like a grownup.
 
Peen Simmons said:
Enjoy being wrong and incapable of discussing music with people who understand the jargon. Is this counting angels on the head of a pin...you bet. But all fields have their jargon. And nitpicking sub-genre definitions are the jargon of popular music.

It's not my fault that everyone everywhere knows that power pop is that spot on the pop music Venn diagram where longhair music instersects with skinny tie music. It's a failed kind of Quixotic music that attempts to imagine a world where the horrors of 1968-1969 never happened. Devil is Dill is right that it is a "know it when you see it" thing...because it's a sensibility. This sort of thing requires some actual ability to handle subjectivity like a grownup.
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Sure thing there fella. You're just a ball of joy.

The Beach Boys...can't more power pop than that (although I'm not much of fan).
 
Also, I think it's probably wrongish to assume that the Beatles are the template for most power pop bands. I'd say that The Who and the Kinks and even the less bluesy, more poppy elements of the mid-60s Stones are all just as apparent in the sound of most power pop acts as the Beatles (who were probably at their most Power Poppy circa Hard Days Night).
 
Dogsinotpalc said:
Sure thing there fella. You're just a ball of joy.

The Beach Boys...can't more power pop than that (although I'm not much of fan).
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Dogsinotpalc is afraid of complexity and is bad at historical context.

And yeah, the girls and cars and surf stuff The Beach Boys did was a huge influence on self-conscious pop makers in the 1970s and beyond. Hell, the Ramones. And certainly the Jesus and Mary Chain. Neither of which are 100% power poppers, but both groups are fellow travelers.
 
Peen Simmons said:
It's not my fault that everyone everywhere knows that power pop is that spot on the pop music Venn diagram where longhair music instersects with skinny tie music.
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I get what you are saying, but as you say it is subjective. It occurred to me that some of Cobain/Nirvana's stuff could fit that description. Along with the melodic accessibility. One of the reasons I tended to pick them over the other bands popular in Seattle at that time.
 
sunvalleylaw said:
I get what you are saying, but as you say it is subjective. It occurred to me that some of Cobain/Nirvana's stuff could fit that description. Along with the melodic accessibility. One of the reasons I tended to pick them over the other bands popular in Seattle at that time.
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Nope, you're contextually historic in you non-myopic understanding of jargony music talk stuff.

Me not good neither.
 
sunvalleylaw said:
I get what you are saying, but as you say it is subjective. It occurred to me that some of Cobain/Nirvana's stuff could fit that description. Along with the melodic accessibility. One of the reasons I tended to pick them over the other bands popular in Seattle at that time.
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Given that Cobain regularly compared Nirvana to the Knack...

And he was big Cheap Trick fan. And Cobain was definitely into a fair amount of Twee stuff (which is like Power Pop's socially even more awkward kid sister).

And he was super hot on the Beatles in a time/place where that wasn't exactly cool.
 
Peen Simmons said:
Enjoy being wrong and incapable of discussing music with people who understand the jargon. Is this counting angels on the head of a pin...you bet. But all fields have their jargon. And nitpicking sub-genre definitions are the jargon of popular music.

It's not my fault that everyone everywhere knows that power pop is that spot on the pop music Venn diagram where longhair music instersects with skinny tie music. It's a failed kind of Quixotic music that attempts to imagine a world where the horrors of 1968-1969 never happened. Devil is Dill is right that it is a "know it when you see it" thing...because it's a sensibility. This sort of thing requires some actual ability to handle subjectivity like a grownup.
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So you say it is a "know it when you see" it but you call people wrong for saying the Kinks or the Beatles or Bowie which is how they see it. So is it a know it when Peen sees it? Since you are the musical expert, why don't you list all the bands for us peons and we will pick from the list, then you can tell us why we are wrong and then you can tell us the right answer.
 
Peen Simmons said:
Also, I think it's probably wrongish to assume that the Beatles are the template for most power pop bands. I'd say that The Who and the Kinks and even the less bluesy, more poppy elements of the mid-60s Stones are all just as apparent in the sound of most power pop acts as the Beatles (who were probably at their most Power Poppy circa Hard Days Night).
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Yeah, I'd say stuff like "Pictures of Lily" and "David Watts" are more the template than anything after say Rubber Soul.
 
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