Ironically pop music is completely a matter of musical perspective. There is really only a few tiny differences that set pop and the music you like apart, and about 90% of that difference is production value, only. The actual writing of the music is irrelevant, and by stating that you like surf rock and not pop, you are inadvertently buying into a genre based purely on its production value, not its musical value. I always find it hilarious when people talk about how bad certain genres are and then talk about the music they like, which is more often than not... Popular music.
^This is one of my unpopular opinions, about popular music.