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Perfect Pop Songs.

You know what I mean, not necessarily popular, though they might be. "Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel or "Waterloo Sunset" by the Kinks or "The Brides Have Hit Glass" by Guided by Voices are all good examples.

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Permalink Reply by Stan Schwieger on June 19, 2012 at 9:01am

Thomas: I have spent a lot of time thinking about this. Which shows either this is a very important topic, or I have no life whatsoever. I humor myself about the importance.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Cruz on June 19, 2012 at 9:34am

Stan everyone should have a passion-luckily you picked the coolest thing to be passionate about!

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Cruz on June 19, 2012 at 9:36am

Unfortunately those who aren't passionate about Rock and Roll always seem to have a half-assed opinion about it anyway haha

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Cruz on June 20, 2012 at 10:52am

I guess my thesis question is this: If Punk can get harsher/faster and become Hardcore; and, if Heavy Metal can beget Grindcore by distilling it's harshest elements (noise, distortion, volume, screams) into a short blast, can Pop music also evolve in the same way?

Is such a genre possible where every song is basically straight singalong choruses and catchy hooks, with very concise intros, outros, bridges, etc. ?

I know most would not consider such a future to be something to look forward to, but, all good taste aside, I've wondered about it. Sort of a Bubblegum version of early Deathray Davies or an amped up Adventures In Stereo?

I've often thought that Bob Pollard's M.O. was to create a sound where all the best parts of his favorite rock songs were distilled from the originals to create a more condensed version of his record collection. I wonder if such a body of work can be create with Pop music as it's foundation?

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Cruz on June 20, 2012 at 10:04am

Deep lyrics are definitely optional for me. They should never get in the way of the tune IMHO. Hanson's "Mmmbop" has borderline insipid lyrics but somehow it works for me. A happy medium, where a deep feeling is suggested but doesn't hammer the listener over the head is ideal.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Cruz on June 18, 2012 at 9:01am

In posing that question, I did not intend to criticize any Tribester's contributions to this thread. I'm the last person to try and pull any of that "taste police" nonsense.

But "perfection" implies 1) a set of criteria and 2) excludes subjectivity. And my query was a sincere attempt to fish out ideas on "pop perfection"

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Permalink Reply by maximum jack on June 18, 2012 at 10:59am

Nice definition by Stan above. The big three requirements for me are: hooks, melody, and sing-along choruses. Generally speaking, a "perfect" pop song is going to be somewhere in the neighborhood of three minutes in length-- you get in, you get out and leave the audience wanting more.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Cruz on June 19, 2012 at 8:37am

I heard an interview with Marshall Crenshaw where he also set the time limit at approximately 3 minutes, so you're in fine company Jack.

I was wondering-what if a song has a hummable melody and sing-along choruses but is short on hooks? I thought of 2 examples: "Twisterella" by Ride and "Cruel To Be Kind" by Nick Lowe. Both have only one hook-a wonderful sing along chorus. But its definitely enough on both counts. Pop perfection. Does mood matter? Both songs have a cheery mood. Another song, "Halah" by Mazzy Star, also has a nice melody plus a sing along chorus. But-the mood is melancholy. As a result, I wouldn't even call it a pop song, let alone perfect pop.

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Permalink Reply by maximum jack on June 19, 2012 at 11:10am

I do think you can have a melancholy pop song. "Waterloo Sunset" is the perfect example.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Cruz on June 20, 2012 at 10:17am

But "Waterloo Sunset" is an exception because is has another prominent hook-the lead guitar that mimics the vocals throughout the song, giving it a poppier sound.

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Permalink Reply by Harry on June 19, 2012 at 7:11pm

My god can we PUH-leeeeze get another album from Evan and Jaron? (i.e. good call, Stan)

Nothing since 2004, did someone die?

"Crazy For This Girl" by them is excellent.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Cruz on June 20, 2012 at 9:51am

I had only heard of Evan and Jaron by stumbling upon a recent project of Jaron's-The Cordovas. It's Americana/Laurel Canyon sound, although it looks like he's moved on from this as well: