Five Easy Masterpieces: An introduction to modern power-pop
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(Credits: Far Out / Album Covers)
The world of genre terms is a fairly nebulous one at the best of times. I came of age being asked by my beloved music press to distinguish between noise-pop, dream-pop and shoegaze and yet, I still can’t think of a genre more nebulous than power-pop. Coined by Pete Townshend to describe the early singles by The Who, the broadest possible definition is basically early Beatles with a bit more heft to it.
You might notice that a metric ton of other music could also fall under this umbrella. Most indie rock bands fall under this. Certainly, anything good that Kiss released could be classified under it, but that feels wrong. Almost all of pop punk can be housed under this category, but that’d start riots in some circles. One of the best definitions comes from, of all places, Courtney Love.
When contributing to the live-stream in memory of the dearly departed Fountains of Wayne songwriter and power-pop genius Adam Schlesinger, the Hole frontwoman described the genre as “three Pauls and a Ringo”. For a period of time, this was 100% true. Classic acts like The Raspberries, Big Star, Cheap Trick and Badfinger embodied that mix of sky-high pop hooks, big-hearted riffs and intricate musicianship better than anyone.
However, it’s not the 1970s anymore, and, like all of us, the genre has evolved into something altogether different and just as exciting. With the classification going through something of a purple patch, let’s have a look at some of the records that flew the flag for modern power-pop!
Five essential modern power-pop albums
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