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What is yacht rock, anyway? Is it even rock and roll? In the new HBO documentary "Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary," Mac DeMarco, a professional entertainer who you'd figure would know, says the genre "exists in a certain zone. It's not that it doesn't rock, but it doesn't rock too hard." Comic Fred Armisen, who wrote the intro for Greg Prato's 2018 explainer about the genre ("The Yacht Rock Book," just $8.49 on Kindle), praises its heartfelt soothing niceness. "It's like the singers all seem to be saying, 'Hey, it's gonna be OK,'" Armisen says. Elsewhere in TV land, musician Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, longtime co-leader of the "Tonight Show" house band, the Roots, is a little more candid about yacht rock. "For me it's just always there," he says. "When you're shopping, when you're at the dentist's office. It's always there when you need it. And when you don't need it."

Now we're getting somewhere. Back in the 1970s and '80s, when so many of the songs associated with yacht rock were big hits, the genre was more simply known as "soft rock." Or maybe just "boring" -- there have always been snotty naysayers. But that was then. Today, yacht rock has come out the other end of the pop reassessment machine. Now it has its own web series (which birthed this doc) and national radio show (on SiriusXM), its own cover bands (but if you feel that the Molly Ringwalds are true yachtsters, go argue elsewhere, please), and its own tour circuits (the next Yacht Rock Revue road show kicks off next March at the House of Blues in Anaheim).

A surprising virtue of the HBO documentary is its complete lack of condescension. But then there's not a lot to look down on, really. Yacht rock isn't some snoozy Mantovani revival; the YR canon is filled with unforgotten hits by Steely Dan (whose 1977 "Aja" album marks the beginning of life on Earth in yacht-rock circles) and the Doobie Brothers, who scored the definitive YR smash with their 1978 single "What a Fool Believes," a song written by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins (who occupies his own place of distinction in the YR cosmos), and launched heavenward with a still-amazing moonshot vocal by McDonald (who defines yacht rock every time he opens his mouth or slides in behind a Fender Rhodes electric piano -- the iconic YR keyboard).

There are many other yacht-rock icons, of course: Christopher Cross (revered for his 1979 hit "Sailing"), onetime rock notable Boz Scaggs (for the sleek "Lowdown"), and just about every member of Toto, who for years were among the busiest studio musicians in LA (where they played endless sessions for acts ranging from Seals and Crofts to Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson ("Thriller"!). Smooth technical mastery and a feel for jazz and modern R&B are prized by yachtsters -- which is why no room has yet been found among them for the very smooth Fleetwood Mac (no jazz consciousness), the equally sleek Hall & Oates (too many Philly-soul inclinations), or the Eagles (smoothies, too, but basically a country-rock band).

This sort of self-serious credential-checking has outlived its usefulness -- the music itself is back because it never went away. As JD Ryznar, a creator of the web series, says, "Yacht rock is a genre, but it's also just a vibe." To which Christopher Cross adds, "If you dig the groove, whatever you like about it, just enjoy it."

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To find out more about Kurt Loder and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website at www.creators.com.

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