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"True power pop is rueful and celebratory at the same time, glorifying desire and frustration, which is why so many power-pop songs concern themselves with the subject of Tonight, or Tomorrow Night, or Saturday Night, or some other night that will only be perfect for as long as it can be deferred. Depression stalks the genre, from Brian Wilson and Emitt Rhodes to the dual suicides of Badfinger, Pete Ham and Tom Evans; from Big Star’s Chris Bell, who struggled with profound depression right up to the night in 1978 that he crashed his Triumph TR-6 into a telephone pole, to Material Issue’s Jim Ellison and to Doug Hopkins, the lead singer of the Gin Blossoms, suicides alike. All the clouds of power pop are worn inside out to show the silver lining."
Michael Chabon, writing on power pop, generally, and Big Star’s Keep an Eye on the Sky box set, specifically
An eloquent way of saying, “When it comes to depression, I’ll see your Joy Division and raise you a Badfinger.”
(Slight correction: Doug Hopkins was actually the guitarist for the Gin Blossoms, and part of his particular tragedy is that the band fired him and re-recorded all of his parts before releasing their label debut, which went on to massive success largely on the merits of his songs.)