The way i get around the uncomfortable truth that power pop is better than alternative rock is by making the definition of alternative rock elastic enough to include power pop
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I like music that moves me and and gives me an emotional lift no matter what others might classify the definition...rock on is my policy...if you like it, enjoy it...
I use them interchangeably to be honest. They generally have the same instrumentation, so it’s power pop if it has vocal harmonies 😅
My music is unequivocally power pop because it’s piano-centric and not heavy enough to be piano rock. I think…
Genres are useful maps, but creativity loves escaping borders. Freedom thrives when definitions bend to reality, not the other way around. Is power pop better—or simply more honest about its joy? [🟣1]
Labels are like people with opinions, everybody has an opinion, with a label, or was it an onion, probably on some fruit in a supermarket, or a market, maybe a fruit stall...where was I going with this again?
RAAAAAAAAAAWK(POP)KKKKK
Nope: these artists make solid albums: Elvis Costello, Pugwash, Posies, Teenage Fanclub, Matthew Sweet, The Shins, Jason Falkner, Brendan Benson, Dandy Warhols, New Pornographers, Wondermints, Raconteurs, Orange Peels, Finn Brothers, Velvet Crush for starters
Oh, sure. I definitely
generalized but also I was thinking specifically of 70s-80s power pop re: The Nerves, Shoes, who had good albums but were surrounded by a hundred other great singles from other bands during that era. I don’t disagree with your list but not what I think of as power pop I guess
Name-checking the Nerves & the Shoes tells me you know excellent music. Genres and categories are always problematic, right? I actually hate the term Power Pop
Thanks man! I used to work for a big satellite music company and I was in charge of categorizing all the music going into our system - it made me hate labels and genres 😆 And killed my drive to listen to new music for a loooong time. Music industry free for over a decade and finally recovering
I feel for you; as a musician I’m now glad that I never had commercial success because I love making music but all the career musicians I know have completely lost the joy.
When I first read this, I thought I don’t really know what power pop is and then I thought I don’t give a fuck. I like what I like I don’t care what it’s branded.
Sorry, but I cannot let your statement go unchallenged. Power pop was always cringe af, and is now dead, while alternative continues to evolve and grow.
Labeling is marketing shite. Good music is good music to self, subjective. Enjoy what you like. I like Marisa Monte and Björk and Elina Garanća also too Rage Against The Machine.
Power pop and pop are totally different. At least to me. And a power pop song can be an alternative song. For example, Matthew Sweet wrote some good power pop songs that were heard all over alternative radio.
Given that what I think of when people say alternative rock is Franz Ferdinand, and Franz Ferdinand make me want to start a death metal band just so I can call it Gavrilo Princip, I do not find it uncomfortable to admit that anything at all is better than alternative rock.
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My music is unequivocally power pop because it’s piano-centric and not heavy enough to be piano rock. I think…
Still I have to say, not what I expected when hearing the term "power pop".
Thanks for sharing.
RAAAAAAAAAAWK(POP)KKKKK
Also check out the Ted Leo cover if you can find it
generalized but also I was thinking specifically of 70s-80s power pop re: The Nerves, Shoes, who had good albums but were surrounded by a hundred other great singles from other bands during that era. I don’t disagree with your list but not what I think of as power pop I guess
#ClassicRock #CollegeRock #AlternativeRock
Don Dixon & Marti Jones
Plimsouls