Power Pop

For me, the idea of Power Pop started with the pop side of what was called New Wave music in the late seventies. Nick Lowe, Dwight Twilly, Elvis Costello, The Romantics, and a few others received the label first, followed by retroactive Power Pop status awarded to The Raspberries and Big Star. Clearly the roots of this sound are found in sixties rock from The Beatles, The Who, and Small Faces, with a long list of other highly melodic, guitar-based, hook-filled wonders.

The Power Pop sound has been alive and well for the last three decades. Quite a few purveyors have added to the fray, and many of them are excellent. The Spongetones, Marshall Crenshaw, Del Amitri, Sloan, The Smithereens, Matthew Sweet, Tommy Keene, Material Issue, and countless others.

So here's a few good ones:

Matthew Sweet Kama Ga Suki 2003

Steve Ward Opening Night 2000

Sloan Between The Bridges 1999

The Smithereens Green Thoughts 1988

The Spongetones Odd Fellows 2000

The Mood Elevator Married Alive 2003

Fountains Of Wayne Welcome Interstate Managers 2003

Richard X. Heyman Hey Man! 1991

Tommy Keene Ten Years After 1996

Del Amitri Some Other Sucker's Parade 1997

Brendan Benson The Alternative To Love 2005

Gigolo Aunts Minor Chords And Major Themes 1990

The Hang Ups Second Story 1999

Bill Lloyd Set To Pop 1994

The Proclaimers Persevere 2001

And the record that while it did not define the form, certainly perfected it:

Marshall Crenshaw Marshall Crenshaw 1982