Let’s Argue About Power Pop!

Endless online debates about a beloved pop rock genre.

Spend some time exploring power pop fan pages on Facebook and three things become quickly apparent:

1. This is a passionate and opinionated community of music-lovers.

2. There are a lot of super obscure bands you’ve likely never heard.

3. Almost nobody can agree on the definition of “power pop.”

This third point, the lack of fundamental clarity about what defines the genre, underscores a lot of discussions these days; delivering endless joy and bottomless frustration to fans who will happily spend hours extolling and debating bands like Shoes, 20/20, the Producers, the Shivvers, the Nerves, Phil Seymour and other lesser-known 70s and 80s “Golden Era” acts. Pop in for a while (some groups are open, others require you to join) and you’ll also find a few newer, gatekeeper-approved acts like the Lickerish Quartet, Foxycontin, the Reflectors, the Corner Laughers, mylittlebrother and White Reaper. If you love guitar-based pop, it’s a great way to discover new-to-you music from around the world and across decades.

All in all, power pop is pretty tame as far as musical subcultures go. Of the hundreds of conversations happening online at any moment, the vast majority are cordial. On the…