International Pop Overthrow

When I listen to pop music, I like to have a good time enjoying its light, airy guitars and super-sweet vocals. I'd like to think that pop music and I came together on our own terms, happy to be in each other's company. Those forces behind the International Pop Overthrow (IPO), however, feel it necessary to bombard you with pop music and overthrow your musical inclinations. What started as a humble, one-city affair 11 years ago has now exploded into a 14-city roundtable of all things pop. 2008 was a banner year for the IPO, which ushers in Phoenix — a town ready to gobble up pop — as one of its new cities for 2009. The IPO claims that it merely wants to bring pop music the attention it rightly deserves, a sentiment with which I find absolutely no fault. A quick look at a previous date in San Diego shows that the entire lineup — save one brave band — all featured everyone's favorite definite article, "the," in their band names. Thankfully, Phoenix will provide a more eclectic mix of bands (including Sugar High, The Breakup Society, Crash Street Kids, and The Love Me Nots) for those fans of being overthrown by pop music.