- How is power pop different from pop punk?
- Power pop centers melody and harmony; the guitars are loud but they serve a sweet tune. Pop punk runs faster and more defiant, with cynical lyrics and drums pushing much harder. One is a loud pop song, the other is a tuneful punk song.
- How do I keep it loud without drowning the melody?
- Prompt "lightly overdriven strummed guitars, no heavy distortion, forward vocal, gang harmonies in the chorus." Limiting the gain is the crucial part — push it and the midrange swallows the vocal, taking the sweetness with it.
- Why are these songs almost always short?
- It is a deliberate tradition: no long interludes, no instrumental showing off, straight to the chorus and done inside three minutes. That compactness is itself part of the genre, so ask for "under three minutes, brief interludes" when generating.
