Brad Stengel

It really depends on how you define pop, and it seems there's two schools of thought on this:

1. Basically the wikipedia definition, where its mostly limited to the "swill" we hear on the radio. The fact is, whether or not its "corporate garbage", "banal", or "shallow", alot of those songs that we think are awful, mean alot to some people, which is the most honest thing a song can do. There are stupid little girls out there that relate to Avril Lavigne's music better than anyone else, and for that reason alone it shouldn't be dismissed. Something doesn't have to be original to move you, it can be something as insignificant as a chord change from B to B-minor, whether its played behind a corporate mannequin's digitally altered singing, or behind an underappreciated cult icon's grating voice.

2. If we are to take it to mean anything catchy, hooky, etc. (which is the school of thought I attend), then that's absurd! Pop has provided us with the Magnetic Fields, Jesus & Mary Chain, Beatles, Ramones, The Cure, and so many more. And to me, anything with any sort of melody to it, has a 'pop' feel to it.


I'd like to also state why I believe the second definition is more accurate. For an example let's take Pavement's "Slanted and Enchanted" album compared to their follow up, "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain". If someone owned S&E and wanted to know how CRCR sounded in comparison, almost everyone would describe "poppier". Neither of them are pop albums according to the first definition, which makes it pretty difficult to describe when a band is taking a more melodic, cleaner, more accessible approach.

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