Best Power Pop Songs of All Time?

Put this song twice.

brendan benson - tiny spark
lemonheads - confetti
teenage fanclub - neil jung

You should put some Shoes on there, and don't forget Material Issue's "Valerie Loves Me" on there. (BTW, Jim Ellison was a member of Green for awhile back in the day, though I don't think he played on Elaine.) You might as well put on some early Posies and Smithereens, too.

Yo La Tengo - Bitter End
Magnapop - Lay it Down

see also: "September Gurls," "In The Street," and "Back Of A Car."

why not some current: The Exploding Hearts - 'I'm a Pretender', The Star Spangles - "Which One of the Two Of Us Is Going To Burn This House Down"

Second (or third) the Big Star suggestions

"Can't Hardly Wait" by The Replacements.

Sounds a lot like it to me.

Like all Posies albums, it falls about after the first five songs.

A number of songs on the Ron Goedert solo album!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQDhavk4oh4

Is Hey Ya power pop or bubblegum?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF9DBXoBrNk

What's the best power pop song from a decidedly non-powerpop band?

Either 'Drill Sergeant' by N*E*R*D or 'Here Come July' by Scritti Politti

"My Sharona" for song structure alone.

Simon Turner - (Baby) I Gotta Go

Peace Love & Understanding - Elvis Costello

― ImprovSpirit, Friday, April 23, 2010 1:10 PM (eight years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is the jam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssd3U_zicAI

the beat - rock n roll girl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cEvEUKN4Fw

pure bliss

https://youtu.be/gkSy-6ij76k

help me list tropes of the genre. I'll start:

Jesus
superstition

pedophilia

Some later era cheese

DM3 - Road to Rome album

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlt545QqLBKV4GK9CjjTfZX2YzEpIsqoi

Lolas - Something You Oughta Know album

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOYnBR8tMVojkgcIMG53yG4S4-Hw9U0SE

The Candyskins - Never Will Forget You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT1jh97FsXI

Flashing Lights - Where Do the Days Go? Heard this one in between sets at a Sloan show but doesn't appear to be available streaming anywhere.

What's the best power pop song from a decidedly non-powerpop band?

California Boy by Lil B came to mind, but then I remembered that song was terrible.

controversial opinion: almost all of the 90s power-pop revival stuff is trash

not controversial, just rong

controversial opinion: some of the aor/power pop crossover stuff from the early '80s (balance, martin briley) is fucking good

i have a hard time getting past the production. what’s the best 90s stuff iyo?

jellyfish

also cotton mather

i think there’s something too formally dramatic and muso to make jellyfish powerpop for the most part and i really like both things. Jellyfish are just fucking awesome.

what’s the best 90s stuff iyo?

Red Kross, Lady in the Front Row & Jimmy's Fantasy

Sloan
The Grays
The Loud Family

Never could get into Jellyfish. Too close to psychedelia I guess.

I have a soft spot for Buffalo Tom, but never loved the Posies or the Gin Blossoms

(and I absolutely adore TFC but they transcend "power pop")

I love Buffalo Tom but never really thought of them as power pop. I suppose if jangle is a major component of the genre, they do have plenty of that.

Their 2018 album is pretty solid, btw.

The track listing for Rhino's Poptopia! Power Pop Classics of the '90s (released, rather prematurely, in 1997):

Matthew Sweet - "I've Been Waiting"
Jellyfish - "That Is Why"
Ride - "Twisterella"
Gigolo Aunts - "Cope"
The Rembrandts - "Rollin' Down the Hill"
Tearaways - "Jessica Something"
The Posies - "Solar Sister"
The Wondermints - "Proto-Pretty"
The Lemonheads - Into Your Arms"
Redd Kross - "Lady in the Front Row"
The Grays - "Same Thing"
The Rooks - "Reasons"
The Greenberry Woods - "Trampoline"
Velocity Girl - "I Can't Stop Smiling"
Velvet Crush - "Hold Me Up"
Zumpano - "The Party Rages On"
P. Hux - "Every Minute"
Idle Wilds - "You're All Forgiven"

I know a few of those artists but I honestly can't recall any of those specific songs offhand aside from "Same Thing."

the first jason falkner solo album is also top notch

there's a KEXP version of Twisteralla I've watched at least a dozen times, what a band what a song. (Wouldn't consider it power pop though??)

by the way he took the '90s off but the toms put another record out last year and it's fucking great

I saw the Sugarplastic once in the '90s - they seemed like an actual power pop band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8HVyrkwc88

90s power pop I like (not in any order): Spongetones, Sneetches, Perspex Whiteout, Teenage Fanclub, Posies, Velvet Crush, Fountains of Wayne

didn't really like Buffalo Tom. Gigolo Aunts were OK

Velvet Crush's first two albums are essential
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqD6Z8KYUGw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHSMg0oGsII

I've never really been able to get into Matthew Sweet or Redd Kross bar a few songs here and there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKsxO9FfxLg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRHBMypKSFQ

Velvet Crush's first two albums are essential
📹

📹

Gentle Breeze ended up recorded again on the fourth album though

Could never get into Heavy Changes. Found them sometimes good but not so great after Teen Symphonies

Not mentioned and underrated: Chainsaw Kittens

Gentle Breeze ended up recorded again on the fourth album though

Could never get into Heavy Changes. Found them sometimes good but not so great after Teen Symphonies

It's a bit better than I remember it. Listening to Heavy Changes again today and it's just so bland, dunno what happened

I always post Mayflies USA on power pop threads becz their first two albums are some of my favorites from the '90s/'00s and they never got a lot of attention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dZhmS0zWwM

Frisbie! I remember buying that record based on a breathless review on salon.com

For me their bid for power pop immortality is Vertigogo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7v0y0o0kVc

"Might Be Right" by White Reaper might be in my all time top ten. Has any power pop song in recent years come close, or eclipsed it? I'd love to know.

powerbump

it's really, really good.

i'm gonna go looking for some recent tunes that i think are in the same ballpark. i'll be back!

that whole album (all 29 mins of it) kills imo, as does the previous one

In the meantime, this recently compiled mix by one of my favorite music websites is an absolute treasure trove of garage-y power-pop:

http://www.ravensingstheblues.com/mixtape-young-hearts-unite/

for recent stuff, I absolutely love the Number Ones (from Dublin), this is the lead track from their last single, they haven't released that much recently but are still active afaik:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svYD_siFuXw

this is my fave song off their album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeJdW9-urUk

they are a lot of fun live

I'm not sure if powerpop is exclusively a boys club, but this song by The Beths seems to fit the genre pretty well:

https://thebethsnz.bandcamp.com/track/lying-in-the-sun