Power Pop Essentials

The rules of power pop are simple but compelling: Songs should be rowdy and sound like a riot of Beatles riffs played on buzzy guitars. They should be dynamic, preferably studded with punchy hooks, and emotionally attuned to the hunger of teenage angst. And most of all they should be short and sweet, blessed with immaculate harmonies and ready to make their point and leave within the space of three arresting minutes. The genre started out in the early ‘70s as a revival of ‘60s pop, with rockers such as Big Star and the Raspberries trying to replicate the thrilling immediacy of the radio hits of their youth. That sound developed a life of its own, taken up by jukebox classicists like Blondie and eventually power-pop nostalgists such as Weezer. The holy grail is the thrilling immediacy of beat-group pop, only with bigger amplifiers and beefier production.