To the greatest genre in the world

Though I enjoy a lot of different types of music, anyone who's read me knows that power-pop has been my absolute favorite genre for years. It's actually kind of a shame, because thorough and informative web sites like Pitchfork and indie snobs in general dimiss power-pop faster than you can say Isaac Brock sucks dick.

I've heard all the criticisms: The lyrics are vapid, the songs repetitive, there's not enough layer and depth, the music's too happy, etc. Those who don't enjoy it always employ a holier-than-thou "Well it can't be good if it actually has discernible hooks, gets lodged in your head immediately, makes you want to sing along and doesn't drearily plod along for four to six minutes" attitude. Apparently happy music = bad music in the indie world.

I've never listened to music to be challenged or find some sort of deep, hidden meaning. I couldn't give a flying fuck what a band has to say. If I want to be intellectually stimulated I'll pick up a book, watch Jeopardy or do the Times crossword. When it comes to music, all I care about is getting a song stuck in my head and making me want to play it over and over again until I get sick of it.

To me, that's the beauty of power-pop: The bands get right to the point, with the songs drenched in sunny harmonies, sugary-sweet lead vocals and a perfect smattering of minor chords, to ensure you will be singing their songs for days on end. It amazes me that people who are interested in immediately catchy music are very much in the minority. When did this happen? The last (and really only time) power-pop was commercially viable was with The Beatles. One could argue that a handful of 70s power-pop bands had a reasonable degree of success, but the genre's been the redheaded stepchild of the music industry ever since.

Fortunately, there are still plenty of bands making amazing, catchy-as-fuck music - you just have to know how to find them. The power-pop community is severely underserved on the Internet - I've long wished for a power-pop version of Pitchfork (surely there are enough of us out there to support a site with multiple daily reviews and news?), but that seems highly unlikely.

However, I have managed to uncover a handful of outstanding sites that have served my power-pop needs. During the last year, the indispensible Absolute Power Pop has solidified its place as one of the top sites in the genre, while Power Popaholic has also done a commendable job. Of course, neither of these guys has the time to post every day, making a full-service power-pop site even more of a necessity.

Given the relative dearth of new power-pop reviews and information, I was devastated to discover that Whit's Brain - the gold standard of power-pop websites - is going to be shutting down. Not only has no other destination introduced me to as much amazing new music as Whit's has, but it's also responsible for three of my absolute favorite bands: The Argument, Second Saturday and Yellow Second, whose third and final album, "Altitude," is the flat-out best album of the decade. It's truly a huge loss for the community, and I only hope that Whit is able to set up shop somewhere else in the future.

A sincere thank you to Whit's for years of great music. You will be missed.