Some Pop Music I Like

For years I claimed that I hated pop music. Then Coldplay put out Yellow and I had to eat my words. Nowadays, my taste in pop music skews heavily indie, and often local. But there is no question that pop is music I like.

Queen of Jeans

Billing themselves as “2 gay vegans and one beautiful omnivore boy” Philly band Queen of Jeans has walks the twee fence line. But (much like locals BellaMaine) If you’re not afraid, I’m not afraid lands solidly on the adorable side.

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Somos

Prison On a Hill by Somos is an upbeat, poppy sounding indie album with a tragic backstory. Somos guitarist Phil Haggerty passed away at age 28 in the days just before the album was released. That knowledge lends a sense of ephemerality to the positive energy of an album that already smacks of nostalgia. There was a tv commercial (maybe this one?) when I was a kid growing up in a country-music-only household that hinted at worlds undiscovered. To this day, I’m a sucker for anything with a particular ’80s sound. Somos has it in spades.

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Coldplay

Coldplay was the band that reintroduced me to pop music, but after A Rush of Blood to the Head, I quit paying attention to them. When Everyday Life came out, I got curious about what they’d sound like fifteen years later. And what do you know? I still like them. “Cry, Cry, Cry” isn’t the best song on the album, but I really like the choreography for this video.

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Sin Fang

The Beatles is strong in this one. But who can’t claim them as an influence? Even when he wears his influences on his sleeve, Sindri Mar is a musical force to reckon with. I’ve never heard a Sin Fang song I didn’t like, and I was so happy when Sad Party came out after a relatively long period of silence from him.

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Baxter Dury

I’d never heard of Baxter Dury before I stumbled on the video for “I’m Not Your Dog” in advance of the new album The Night Chancers. It had that storyteller feeling like Tom Waits or Nick Cave. But it sounded more pissed off than either of them, but at the same time, more catchy. I like that.

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Badly Drawn Boy

Badly Drawn Boy‘s popularity peaked during the years I wasn’t listening to much popular music of any genre, so I was familiar with the name but never really knew what they sounded like. Then a while back I read about a rerelease of Bewilderbeest. I listened to it and liked it. Then I listened to the newer album Banana Skin Shoes. And I liked that too.