The Delete Bin20 Great Power Pop Songs You Should Hear Right Now
Bright clanging and jangling guitars with a crunch. Ooo-ooo-ah-ah backing vocals. North American bands with British Invasion obsessions. European bands lost in a reverie of California dreaming and girl group glory. Any combination in either direction across the board.
Melodic hooks. Soaring and simple guitar breaks that hit the spot with precision and economy. Transformative middle-eight sections. Longing lyrics of unrequited love or lust or disappointment or jealousy or regret. Never being noticed by an object of affection or letting them slip through your fingers like a fool.
This is power pop.
How can a bright melody say so much when you’re feeling the rush at the height of summer, and equally so when you’re feeling awkward and invisible? Here are 20 great power pop songs that point the way to an answer, or at least provide a sympathetic soundtrack while you ponder one.
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“Starry Eyes” by The Records
With a burst of jangly glory, The Records’ hit song from their 1979 debut record Shades in Bed hits all of the power pop marks of sunshiny melody and exuberance while remaining to be a song about being left with the short end of the stick. This cut perfectly captures the timelessness of the power pop sound to defy eras. The guitars just ring out on this one to the point where we forget how much the lyrics are full of disappointment and betrayal—a classic power pop gambit if there ever was one!
Listen: Starry Eyes
“Tomorrow Night” by Shoes
Exemplars of the form by the late Seventies, Zion Illinois’ Shoes released this tune as a single in 1978, later featured on 1979’s Present Tense LP. It went on to be among the first songs on MTV when the music station launched in 1981. Breathy harmonies and jangly guitars by which power pop is identified are matched with sophistication in playing and in arrangements. In a song about entreating a lover to wait before pulling the plug on love, contrast between melodic euphoria and a heart’s desperation is striking.
Listen: Tomorrow Night
“Black and White” by The dB’s
Celebrated power pop proponents The dB’s cut this tune of love outstaying its welcome for their 1981 record Stands for Decibels. Principal songwriters Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey punctuate it with Townshend-style power chords and Byrdsian jangle. They test the boundaries of straight ahead guitar pop with some unexpected angles to offset expectations. This cut of Holsapple’s was the single that helped to make the band an instant reference for power pop as a genre.
Listen: Black and White
“Yesterday’s Love” by Any Trouble
Like many of their Stiff Records labelmates, the Clive Gregson-led Any Trouble very effectively took the energy and velocity of punk and channeled it into more classic pop song structures and themes, adding a Sixties jangle into the mix. Full of melodic longing and frenetic guitar with a triplet-infused rhythm that turns on a sixpence, this 1980 single is a prime example. It helped model a strain of tuneful guitar pop that would split off into other musical tributaries still in the decades to follow—as we will soon see!
Listen: Yesterday’s Love
“Let Go” by Dirty Looks
Another Stiff Records entry, this cut by Staten Island’s Dirty looks adds a pop sheen to punk energy in a similar way. Instead of the sneer of punk though, we get a bona fide and earnest musical call to action. This 1980 single also reveals a Sixties beat group influence with a brand of power pop aligned to The Who with a bit of surf rock thrown in, too. Matching ferocity with soaring pop hooks and harmonies, this tune proves its own thesis that rock ‘n’ roll is indeed still the best drug.
Listen: Let Go
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Girl” by Paul Collins’ Beat
Late of the seminal power pop outfit The Nerves, Paul Collins’ new band The Beat aka Paul Collins’ Beat continued to explore spirited guitar pop, with this one bearing a Bobby Fuller Four style rock ‘n’ roll edge. This cut from the band’s self-titled 1979 debut record is a music fan’s lament of being stuck in the disco era while longing to a meet a girl who’s ready to rock with him. With TV appearances and movie soundtrack inclusions in the 1980s, The Beat are remembered as first-class power pop standard bearers of the era.
Listen: Rock ‘n’ Roll Girl
“Cruel Girl” The Red Button
Listening to this cut, you might think that it’s an outtake from 1963’s With The Beatles. But it came out in 2007! Songwriter Seth Swirsky has penned hit songs for artists from Al Green to Taylor Dayne. But along with bandmate Mike Ruekberg, The Red Button is a pure power pop concern with Beatlemania on the brain. This track is a letter perfect monument to a circa 1963-64 John Lennon-style song of recrimination, released as a single from their debut She’s About to Cross My Mind.
Listen: Cruel Girl
“Time for Love” by The Pink Tiles
Power pop isn’t just an American/UK thing. Its reach and appeal stretch to the ends of the earth, including Down Under. Melbourne’s The Pink Tiles add a little Sixties garage meets kitsch to the mix on this cut from their 2017 LP (number) 1 Fan. This cut is pure 1966 with a Motown-like chug as it meets with buzzing keyboards, crunchy guitar, and pure teenage longing. Some pop sounds just keep on giving no what the era. This cut more than proves the musical point.
Listen: Time for Love
“Trampoline” by The Greenberry Woods
This Baltimore quartet’s tune of yearning reinforces the classic power pop sound after the fashion of The Posies and Matthew Sweet. It appears on their 1994 record Rapple Dapple, put out after Seymour Stein signed the band on his legendary Sire Records label. The song is a classic contrast between exuberant melodies and bright and crunchy guitars set against a downcast tale that suggests a fight against the inevitable. It’s a great example of how power pop can put wistfulness side by side with exuberance.
Listen: Trampoline
“Sucked Out” by Superdrag
Hailing from Knoxville, TN, power poppers Superdrag put out their Regretfully Yours album and had a minor hit in this song, a tune that reflects the brightness of the genre while mixing in Gen X despondency and alienation—a hallmark of Nineties power pop in general. This tune ruminates on the rigours of being in a band as the magic wears off and as rock star dreams turn into letdowns. Who said power pop couldn’t be angry? Fans of Weezer take note if you haven’t already.
Listen: Sucked Out
“She Came On” by Super Deluxe
Effervescent Beatlesque melody and harmony was alive and well by the time Seattle’s Super Deluxe put out their Famous album in 1995. They reflect and embody all that here on that record’s lead single, a song that would later to appear on film soundtracks of the era including Kingpin and Marvin’s Room. Thematically, this cut is in the classic power pop tradition of longing and regret, looking back on events and decisions that might have been life changing for the better if not for the foolishness of youth.
Listen: She Came On
“Love’s Lost on You” by The Grip Weeds
Named after John Lennon’s character in the 1967 film How I Won the War, New Jersey’s The Grip Weeds demonstrate their musical allegiances well on this song from 2001’s Summer of a Thousand Years, their third album together. Ignoring all the musical trends at the turn of the century, the band double down on classic Sixties chord changes while leaning into the fidelity and aggression of the best alternative rock records of the day. The combination of anger and ah-ah sonic euphoria is a heady brew indeed.
Listen: Love’s Lost on You
“Teenline” by The Shivvers
Milwaukee’s The Shivvers provide an amped-up Beatles bounce to this 1980 single that must be added to a list of songs that should have been huge hits. Despite their energy, The Shivvers never really broke beyond their local popularity and with only twenty recordings to their name. But this song shows that in another version of the world, they could have had hits side by side with Blondie, The Pretenders, and The Go-Go’s, with just the right balance between retro British Invasion style melody and new wave aggression.
Listen: Teenline
“Hold On To Something” by Great Buildings
Adding a bit of surf rock twang along with a new wave groove, this 1981 song from L.A. band Great Buildings is piquant pop music with a foundation of soaring harmonies and an effusive chorus. The band formed around the talents of Danny Wilde and Phil Solem, showcasing their knack for timeless guitar pop. They’d later form another band by the end of the decade, The Rembrandts, who would provide a power pop anthem to beat them all as the theme for an era-defining Nineties television show you know well.
Listen: Hold On to Something
“C’mon Everybody” by The Chevelles
Back to Australia, Perth’s The Chevelles offer this cut is from their evocatively titled record Barbarella Girl God: Introducing The Chevelles from 2008. Not to be confused with the classic Eddie Cochran side, this song is propelled by fizzy guitar and a crisp beat that makes Western Australia seem like a previously undiscovered power pop heartland. One can only assume that it must be, evidenced by this handclapping anthem to a good time out with everyone on the scene on a sultry (or even desert-dry) summer night.
Listen: C’mon Everybody
“St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” by Cocktail Slippers
In this song about a relationship with a sell-by date from Thanksgiving to the titular occasion, Norwegian quintet Cocktail Slippers presents a sound rooted in classic Go-Go’s-Bangles-Blondie pop rock. Similarly, they share stylistic DNA inclusive of The Shangri-La’s and The Beach Boys, and bring authentic Sixties energy and Spectoresque high drama with this track. Featured on the group’s 2009 album of the same name, this tune was penned by Mr. Underground Garage himself: Little Steven Van Zandt.
Listen: St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
“A Million Miles Away” by The Plimsouls
The best song that Paul Westerberg never wrote, Plimsouls frontman and guitarist, lead songwriter, and (like Paul Collins above) formerly of The Nerves Peter Case steps up. This is The Plimsouls’ biggest hit, featured on 1983’s Everywhere at Once. This song about pining for lost love is best known for its prominent inclusion on the Valley Girl soundtrack. That movie features a very young Nicolas Cage playing an alienated, misunderstood, and dreamy new wave outcast. The band even appear in the movie!
Listen: A Million Miles Away
“Places That Are Gone” by Tommy Keene
Being more of a cult figure than a household name, Tommy Keene was known among the faithful as a standout power pop craftsman. This tune is from his second LP, 1986’s Music From the Film, produced by none other than one-time Beatles engineer and renowned producer (Elvis Costello, Nick Heyward) Geoff Emerick. This cut kicks off the record as a rumination on leaving the past behind with no regrets. Perhaps ironically, this tune represents the timelessness of power pop, applicable in any era.
Listen: Places That Are Gone
Blame Game by Beach Bunny
Presenting the other side of obsessing over the girl you can’t get—a recuring theme in power pop— Beach Bunny use the musical form to convey another angle of that same theme on this title cut from their 2021 EP. This time, there’s a comment on the consequences of mistaking perceived unattainability with someone’s right to agency and bodily autonomy. Power pop grows up a bit on this cut and is the better for it, still retaining it’s sunny jangle while putting forward a serious topic.
Listen: Blame Game
“The End” by Chime School
San Francisco’s Chime School bring the jangle and the melancholy in equal measure on this cut from their 2024 record The Boy Who Ran the Paisley Hotel. As summery as power pop tends to be, there’s always that hint of coming autumn that makes it all the more resonant. Acoustic guitar strum and a vividly ringing (chiming?) 12-string electric meets with an end of summer mood that perhaps aligns with the end of something between two people, too. This tune is as colourful and wistful as turning leaves.
Listen: The End
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In much the same way that Northern soul and punk scenes did, power pop also returned to pop music’s roots in the 1960s. Red album-era Beatles. The Kinks. The Who. The Beach Boys. The Byrds. Instead of the abstracts and ironies and impenetrable imagery of prog and glam and art rock, power pop gets to the heart of the matter with two to three-minute immediacy. Love, rejection, hope, wonder. Youthful enthusiasm. Teenage dreams and hopes. Feel-good energy and summery vibes. Joyful rage. Rushes of euphoria. Innocence and the irretrievable loss of it.
From the 1970s to today, the appeal of power pop remains. Maybe it’s because it connects with something that remains constant for anyone with an ear for bright tunes that don’t shy away from those forces in life that make us feel the most vulnerable. Somewhere in there, you can find the heart of human experience itself.
For more about power pop as a genre and in celebration of it, check out Power Popaholic for classic cuts and newfound treasures of the genre.
Enjoy!
