...so gushed an almost unbearably enthusiastic H from Steps on BBC's Live & Kicking Saturday morning TV show a few months ago. Speaking not only about his own band's runaway success, but also referring to the predominance of bands and artists like B*Witched, Billie, Cleopatra, 5ive, Spice Girls and others, little H's excitement was infectious. Here now, after the tedium of Britpop, was UK Pop that actually was worth getting excited about: albeit disposable, fluffy and - crucially - indie snob-annoying.

So therefore on the other hand, there was the NME, spouting the opinion that the New Pop was all that was bad in the music industry, personified in the gurning svengali visage of Pete Waterman. Now whilst I agree with their point that the lack of any alternative scene at the moment is partly the reason why Pop is so ubiquitous, I take issue with their other argument that it is bad, "lesser" music, merely because it is lightweight, corporately-owned and pitched at kids.

It's the corporate, cynical marketing argument against pop that I find the most amusing, and the easiest to dismiss. Sure, the likes of Billie preaching safe teen rebellion isn't going to bring down the government; but neither is the individualism-by-numbers offered by the traditionally "alternative" bands. And how much more corporate can you get than Sony, the Manics' record label?

Now I have fond memories of the great years of indie music, when the term "independent" actually meant what it said. All those Peel Sessions, My Bloody Valentine and the dawn of Creation, coloured vinyl, limited edition, oh my (now I'm sounding like a bis song lyric). And indeed, those days do seem to have vanished into the dark recesses of the classified ad pages of journals like Record Collector; and now "indie" is just another genre. But a knee-jerk reaction in the direction of Pop's nether regions isn't going to solve that.

I'm sick of the self-appointed elite style fascists who take it upon themselves to tell you what you can and can't listen to. If I decide that Step One sits between Hope Is Important and OK Computer in my record collection, then it is my business. The same way that it is my business that sometimes all I'm in the mood for is some daft Smash Hits style pop, instead of pre-millennial bedsit angst or overblown guitar bluster.

Of course, I'm aware of the post-modern ironic pitfalls; the "so bad it's good" anti-cool beloved of some student factions. But that's not the reason I sometimes prefer the dulcet tones of B*Witched over the sixth-year poetry class histrionics of the Manics. No - it is instead because I genuinely like several different kinds of music, one of which happens to be Pop. Whether that makes me a more well-rounded individual, or a shallower one - I don't care. And, before you point it out, I know the subtitle of HeadCleaner is "the alternative music webzine" - it is my argument that there is virtually no such thing as alternative music nowadays: instead there is music that you decide that you like on your own terms. Make your own alternative, in other words. And if that happens to include Pop, guitar, jazz, Peruvian arse flute ensembles, whatever - so be it.

Pop is back - deal with it.