The tendrils of power pop stretch long and wide, the shadow of Big Star looming high and heavy over an entire generation of jangly-minded power-poppers. Some embrace Big Star's #1 Record, content in a desire to create the loveliest melody in the most concisely pleasurable song; others err on the side of Radio City, with its rougher edges and slightly rawer nerves; manic depressives, or those who aspire to be, embrace Third/Sister Lovers.

In addition to the Big Star influence that infects just about every power pop song ever produced, the Hunting Accident has its own internal power pop lineage to draw from. Hunting Accident members Nate Greely, Aaron Stuart and Travis Shettel cut their teeth in the mid-'90s in the bands Arlo and Piebald. Both incorporated the era's tendency to make songs that were revealing and personal, while at the same time being goofy and almost tossed-off. Arlo's career culminated in the release of two albums through Sub Pop in the early 2000s, while Piebald hung around for a while longer. Both bands eventually came to a close.

"We weren't doing much, just playing in other people's bands," says Arlo's Nate Greery, regarding the period after both bands broke up. "I think we all needed a little break. It's a big deal when the band that you grew up on ends. It's a little traumatic. If you're a dude that writes your own songs and does your own kind of punk rock thing, it's a little weird after a while to be playing as a hired dude in somebody else's band. We reached the point where we wanted to do our own thing again."

Greery, Stuart and Shettel joined forces to create the Hunting Accident, a band that was meant to be more of a lark and a way to blow off creative steam. But, the more they played, the more they enjoyed it - falling into the rhythm of writing and recording. Hunting Accident recently released a debut EP.

"It almost seems impossible to start over again after you've been in the same band for 12 years," says Greery. "I've even tried to stop making music, and be like, ‘OK, well, I've had fun and accomplished some things. I'm just gonna not do music, now.' It's impossible. Before I know it, I'm in three more bands. It's a process of coming to terms with, like, ‘OK, this is what I do, and this is where I'm the happiest. ...' (With the Hunting Accident) I was consciously trying to push it a little weirder, and make it sound more like the Fall, and less like Cheap Trick. I don't know if I've succeeded. It still comes off pretty poppy. That's just what I do."

There are worse problems to have than an inability to not write a catchy song. The Hunting Accident, perhaps predictably, manages to pick up where both Arlo and Piebald left off. Despite Greery's efforts to move away from this power pop sound, his songs are written almost in reflex. His hand will always turn toward the hook.

Hunting Accident

with Lozen, Help and Mike TV
Saturday, Nov. 19, 9 p.m., $5
The New Frontier Lounge, 301 E. 25th St, Tacoma
253.572.4020