I think for Power Pop engineering the old saying, "Cleanliness is Next 
To Godliness" is the best. There were too many Power albums in the past 
decade that were ruined by mixing as if the band was Alice In Chains and 
the vocals were buried under a mass of overdriven guitars.

But it shouldnt sound "Wimpy" either - think CT's "In Color" where 
everything was toned down.

A murky or super-reverb'd mix (unless youre trying to copy Phil Spector 
or Brian Wilson) doesnt work well for most modern Pop music either. Some 
may disagree but no digital box or plug-in can totally dupilcate those 
chambers at Abbey Road, Gold Star or Western/United.

A listener should be able to hear everything in the mix and the vocals 
need to be right on top. Then CRUNCH it with a good compressor, thats 
what made those old Beatles records and everything recorded at Abbey 
Road in the 60's sound so good!

Billy G.
http://listen.to/jangleradio