"i was raised on pop punk, so you know it's bad when i think its derivative."

Hey, remember the 80s? What’s that, you weren’t even born until ’86? Well now it doesn’t even matter, thanks to bands like Franz Ferdinand, Hot Hot Heat, and the Killers! I don’t know how it happened, but it seems that oft-mocked decade has suddenly become “hip” and/or “cool” again.
The music that will always be remembered from the 80s is also the most easily parodied, and that is of course pop music (or, if you prefer, “new wave”, whatever the heck that was). Alternative, metal, hardcore, and goth all went through lush creative periods during the 80s. But they all take a backseat to the Diabetes inducing powers of pop music. The bad hair, the bad clothes, and the horrible songs will always be remembered. I remember listening to a lot of ABC, Berlin, and Soft Cell with my friends in high school, but it was always on a pseudo-ironic level. ABC’s “The Look of Love” is such a horribly goofy song, complete with spoken word breakdown, that it demands repeated listening. This song puts anything William Hung ever performed to worse shame. Of course, bit by bit, my 80s pop sugar intake became less and less ironic. Songs like “I Ran” by Flock of Seagulls or “Hungry Like the Wolf” are fun, carefree, and occasionally sexy (especially if you’re listening to a song by the almighty Prince).
While I know quite a few people who have also gone on to really, really enjoy the likes of Rick Springfield and Cyndi Lauper, it still seems bizarre to me that this kind of music is suddenly being recreated. The later 90s were saturated with lame boy band/solo girl pop crap. When punk, emo, and indie became “cool”, I thought that maybe pop music would go away again. I was wrong.
While many people seem to enjoy Franz Ferdinand and the Killers, I myself do not. Granted, the Killers wrote a song that I do enjoy quite thoroughly (“Mr. Brightside”), but then again, so did A-ha (“Take On Me”). Everyone has the potential to write at least one good song. But making a good album is another thing. As for the almighty Franz, I have to be honest: I think that they are boring and incredibly overrated. But whenever one of their songs is played, I still end up listening. I don’t like the band, but their lyrics and posturing are so easy to mock that they become enjoyable for me. But it doesn’t matter to them if I like them legitimately or ironically, because either way I’m still listening.
This is essentially the danger of irony: by enjoying something that you consider “bad” on an ironic level, you basically concede that you secretly like it legitimately. Eventually you break down and admit it. My cousin Dana is about ten years old now. She’ll be just around the right age to enjoy *N’Sync on an ironic level in about ten years. Crap.