1 | [floatboxright: |
2 | Primary Stylistic Influences: |
3 | + RockAndRoll, GarageRock, HardRock, UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion (both the Merseybeat and the Mod aspects of it), Girl Groups, {{Rockabilly}}, {{Doowop}}, JanglePop |
4 | ] |
5 | [floatboxright: |
6 | Secondary Stylistic Influences: |
7 | + {{Pop}}, ProtoPunk, ArenaRock, FolkRock, GarageRock, later bands often influenced by PunkRock, NewWaveMusic and AlternativeRock |
8 | ] |
9 | |
10 | ->''"Power pop is what we play — what Music/TheSmallFaces used to play, and the kind of pop Music/TheBeachBoys played in the days of "Fun, Fun, Fun" which I preferred."'' |
11 | -->--'''[[Music/TheWho Pete Townshend]]''' |
12 | |
13 | Power pop is Music/TheBeatles [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] Music/TheWho. |
14 | |
15 | That's literally all there is to it. Power pop emerged as a genre in the middle of The60s, and its basic characteristics have remained unchanged since then. Power pop basically denotes bands that try to sound like a cross between Music/TheBeatles and Music/TheWho. There's an emphasis on strong melodies and heavy use of Beatles-styled vocal harmonies, but this is married to loud guitars and somewhat "aggressive" drumming borrowed from the Who (with the jangly 12-string guitar sound of Music/TheByrds often thrown in for good measure). The result? Well, pop rock music with balls, so its popularity probably isn't that surprising. Power pop is also notable for its LyricalDissonance, given its cheerful sounding music underpinned by a sense of yearning, longing, despair, or self-empowerment. |
16 | |
17 | Fittingly, the term "power pop" was coined by Pete Townshend in a 1967 interview (quoted above) to describe his band's style. Their early singles like "I Can't Explain", "The Kids Are Alright" and "Substitute", helped [[TropeCodifier codify]] the genre, merging typical strong Beatle-ish GarageRock and pop rock melodies with driving R&B-inspired rhythms and massive Marshall-stacked guitars. The Beatles themselves released harder-edged singles that helped inspire the genre, such as "Day Tripper" and "Paperback Writer", and Music/TheKinks pretty much invented the style with the {{epic riff}}y "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night", which were the template for "I Can't Explain". |
18 | |
19 | The70s represented the decade where Power pop came into its own as a genre, represented by artists like Badfinger (who enjoyed the patronage of Music/TheBeatles), The Raspberries, famous [[CultClassic cult band]] Music/BigStar, NRBQ, [[Music/ToddRundgren Nazz and Todd Rundgren]]. The genre also reached the peak of its mainstream popularity in the late seventies, represented chiefly by Music/CheapTrick and others like 20/20, Music/TheCars, and Music/TheKnack. Thanks to dumb British journalists who tended to use "power pop" as a catchall term, lots of bands that weren't primarily power pop got lumped into the genre, such as Music/TheJam, Music/{{Squeeze|Band}}, the Music/{{Buzzcocks}}, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/{{Blondie|Band}}, Music/{{XTC}}, and Music/NickLowe (most of these bands were [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]], PunkRock or early AlternativeRock, with Squeeze and Nick Lowe being the closest to bona-fide Power Pop). |
20 | |
21 | Power pop dropped out of the spotlight after the end of the seventies due to the massive HypeBacklash against The Knack's smash hit "My Sharona". However, it continued to thrive underground and proved to be an important influence on AlternativeRock bands - many of the early alt-rock bands, such as Music/{{REM}}, played JanglePop and owed a massive debt to power pop, especially Music/BigStar. The genre has still had its occasional moments of mainstream success, such as Music/MatthewSweet's "Girlfriend", Music/GinBlossoms' "Hey Jealousy", Music/{{Weezer}}'s "Buddy Holly", Music/FountainsOfWayne's "Stacy's Mom", and Walk the Moon's "Shut Up and Dance". |
22 | |
23 | PopPunk bands often [[BlatantLies claim to be]] power pop. Considering Music/TheWho inspired many of the first punk bands, this may not be surprising. |
24 | |
25 | Do not confuse this term with anthemic adult-contemporary/pop songs and/or power ''ballads'', which are often mislabeled as "power pop". |
26 | ---- |
27 | |
28 | Artists commonly associated with the genre: |
29 | [[index]] |
30 | * 20/20 |
31 | * Music/TheAllAmericanRejects |
32 | * Music/AllTimeLow |
33 | * Music/AltJ |
34 | * Music/TheApplesInStereo |
35 | * Music/ArtfulDodger (not the British Garage producer, the 70s American band) |
36 | * Music/{{Ash}} |
37 | * Music/AsianKungFuGeneration |
38 | * Music/{{Badfinger}} (probably the TropeCodifier for the genre) |
39 | * Music/BadNerves |
40 | * Music/TheBangles |
41 | ** ''Music/AllOverThePlace'' |
42 | * Music/BayCityRollers |
43 | * Music/{{Beabadoobee}} |
44 | * Music/TheBeat (Paul Collins' band, not to be confused with the British Music/TwoTone band, called The English Beat in the US) |
45 | * Music/BrendanBenson |
46 | * Music/BestCoast |
47 | * Music/BigStar |
48 | * Music/BlueAsh |
49 | * Music/BradJones (No, not that Creator/BradJones) |
50 | * Music/{{Bread|Band}} (Usually considered SoftRock balladeers, but a lot of their album tracks and BSide material qualify. "Down on My Knees" could easily pass for a Badfinger song) |
51 | * Music/TheBrobecks |
52 | * Music/BrotherKite (also {{Shoegazing}}) |
53 | * Music/TheCars (straddling the line between Power pop and {{New Wave|Music}}) |
54 | * Music/CheapTrick |
55 | * Music/TheClickFive |
56 | * Music/ElvisCostello |
57 | ** 1977 - ''Music/MyAimIsTrue'' |
58 | ** 1978 - ''Music/ThisYearsModel'' |
59 | * Music/CottonMather |
60 | * Music/MarshallCrenshaw |
61 | * Music/TheDandyWarhols |
62 | * Music/{{DAY6}} |
63 | * The dBs (also JanglePop) |
64 | * Music/DelAmitri |
65 | * Music/DirtyLooks (not the glam metal band) |
66 | * Music/{{Dodgy}} (also {{Britpop}}) |
67 | * [[Music/EnuffZNuff Enuff Z'Nuff]] (although they had the misfortune of being labeled as a HairMetal band because [[ExecutiveMeddling that's what their label]] Creator/AtcoRecords said they were.) |
68 | * Music/{{Everclear}} |
69 | * Music/TheExplodingHearts |
70 | ** ''Music/GuitarRomantic'' (2003) |
71 | * Music/TheEyes |
72 | * Music/{{Fastball}} |
73 | * [[Music/TheFlaminGroovies The Flamin' Groovies]], at least in the post-Roy Loney era. |
74 | * Music/BenFolds |
75 | * Music/TheFormat |
76 | * Music/FountainsOfWayne |
77 | * Music/GinBlossoms |
78 | * Music/{{Graduate}} (mainly known for being [[RetroactiveRecognition an early band]] of [[Music/TearsForFears Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith's]]. Despite being marketed as a TwoTone band on the basis of their [[OneHitWonder sole hit]] "[[Music/ElvisCostello Elvis]] Should Play Ska", their actual sound is much closer to this.) |
79 | * Music/{{Hanson}} |
80 | * Music/JulianaHatfield |
81 | * Music/{{Hazel}} |
82 | * Music/TheHudsonBrothers (with their TV career and TeenIdol image they're usually remembered as a bubblegum band, but with their obvious love for UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion they were much closer to Big Star than The Archies) |
83 | * Music/TheJam |
84 | * Music/{{Jellyfish}} (although by their second album, they'd moved in a more BaroquePop direction) |
85 | * Music/JimmyEatWorld (from ''Bleed American'' onwards) |
86 | * Music/KaiserChiefs |
87 | * Music/{{Kenickie}} |
88 | * Music/TheKnack |
89 | * Music/TheLas |
90 | * Music/TheLemonTwigs |
91 | * Music/NickLowe |
92 | * Music/{{Ludo}} |
93 | * Music/MarcyPlayground |
94 | * Music/MaterialIssue |
95 | * Music/ModFun |
96 | * Music/MotionCitySoundtrack |
97 | * Music/TheMonroes (a case of OneHitWonder) |
98 | * Music/TheMove |
99 | * Music/NadaSurf |
100 | * Music/TheNewPornographers, particularly on their early albums. |
101 | * Music/NewRadicals |
102 | * Music/{{NRBQ}} |
103 | * Music/OkGo |
104 | ** 2006 - "Music/HereItGoesAgain" |
105 | * Music/OneOKRock |
106 | * Music/TheOutfield |
107 | * Music/ParadeOfLights |
108 | * Music/{{Paramore}} |
109 | * Music/{{Pezband}} |
110 | * Music/LizPhair, especially the songs where she's working with a full band. ("Supernova", "Rocket Boy" and the like.) |
111 | * Music/{{Phantom Planet|Band}} |
112 | * Music/ThePillows |
113 | * Music/ThePlimsouls |
114 | * Music/ThePoohSticks |
115 | * Music/ThePosies |
116 | * Music/{{Ramones}} (though more often recognized as a PunkRock band) |
117 | * Music/TheRaspberries (the first American band to hit it big with this style) |
118 | * Music/TheRecords |
119 | * Music/TheReplacements |
120 | * Music/TheRomantics |
121 | * Music/JeffRosenstock |
122 | * Music/TheRubinoos (straddling the line between Power Pop and bubblegum) |
123 | * Music/ToddRundgren (his early band Nazz explicitly molded their sound on The Beatles and The Who, and his solo career has generally been at the junction of Power Pop and ProgressiveRock) |
124 | * Music/{{Shoes}} |
125 | * Music/SilverSun |
126 | * Music/SkeletonStaff |
127 | * Music/{{Sloan}} |
128 | * Music/TheSmallFaces |
129 | * Music/SmashMouth |
130 | * Music/TheSmithereens |
131 | * Music/SnowPatrol |
132 | * Music/{{Spacehog}} (combined with alternative rock and glam rock) |
133 | * Music/{{Sparks}} (one of their [[GenreBusting many]] styles, the one that first brought them popularity in 1974-1975) |
134 | * Music/SpinDoctors |
135 | * Music/RickSpringfield |
136 | * Music/TheSpongetones |
137 | * Music/{{Squeeze|Band}} |
138 | * Music/BillySquier |
139 | * Music/SuperFurryAnimals |
140 | * Music/{{Supergrass}} (also Britpop) |
141 | * Music/TheSupernaturals (also Britpop) |
142 | * Music/MatthewSweet |
143 | * Music/{{Switchfoot}} |
144 | * Music/TallyHall |
145 | * Music/TeenageFanclub |
146 | * Music/ThirdEyeBlind |
147 | * Music/TommyTutone |
148 | * Music/TheTubes (a style adopted after ''The Completion Backward Principle'') |
149 | * Music/DwightTwilley (and his earlier work, The Dwight Twilley Band) |
150 | * Music/TheUnswept |
151 | * Music/UrgeOverkill |
152 | * Music/WalkTheMoon (especially amplified on ''Talking is Hard''; also DancePunk and [[NewWaveMusic New Wave Revival]]) |
153 | * Music/{{Weezer}} (also Alternative Rock, PopPunk, and, [at least on ''[[Music/WeezerTheBlueAlbum The Blue Album]]'' and ''Music/{{Pinkerton}}''], [[EmoMusic Emo]]) |
154 | ** 1994 - ''Music/WeezerTheBlueAlbum'' |
155 | ** 1996 - ''Music/{{Pinkerton}}'' |
156 | ** 2001 - ''Music/WeezerTheGreenAlbum'' |
157 | ** 2002 - ''Music/{{Maladroit}}'' |
158 | ** 2005 - ''Music/MakeBelieve'' |
159 | ** 2008 - ''Music/WeezerTheRedAlbum'' |
160 | ** 2009 - ''Music/{{Raditude}}'' |
161 | ** 2010 - ''Music/{{Hurley}}'' |
162 | ** 2014 - ''Music/EverythingWillBeAlrightInTheEnd'' |
163 | ** 2019 - ''Music/WeezerTheTealAlbum'' |
164 | * Music/{{Wheatus}} |
165 | * Music/TheWho (TropeNamer) |
166 | ** 1965 - ''Music/MyGeneration'' |
167 | ** 1966 - ''Music/AQuickOne'' |
168 | ** 1967 - ''Music/TheWhoSellout'' |
169 | * Music/{{XTC}} |
170 | * Music/{{Zumpano}} (a precursor to The New Pornographers) |
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