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Twee pop

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Twee pop
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsc. 1986, United Kingdom
Other topics

Twee pop is a subgenre of indie pop[1] that originates from the 1986 NME compilation C86.[2] Twee pop gets its name from the aesthetic of twee, which is known for its simplicity and childlike innocence.[3] Some of its defining features are boy-girl harmonies, catchy melodies, and lyrics about love. For many years, prominent independent record labels associated with twee pop were Sarah Records (in the UK) and K Records (in the US).[2]

Twee pop gained popularity in the 1990s, and has seen a recent revival in the 2020s.[3]

Etymology

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Further information: Indie pop

The definition of twee is something "excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental," supposedly born from a childish mispronunciation of the word sweet.[4] With the twee movement's embrace of innocence and femininity, the genre has strong associations with feminism.

History

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Forerunners

Dan Treacy's Television Personalities have been accredited as forerunners to twee pop.

The Velvet Underground have been retrospectively assessed as precursors to twee pop with songs like I'm Sticking with You and After Hours, written by Lou Reed but sung by female drummer Maureen Tucker.[5] Reed's songs have been described as having a "proto-twee sensitivity".[6] Similarly, the childlike innocence of Jonathan Richman's later albums has been identified as precursors to the genre.[7] Additionally, the Byrds, described by the Guardian as "not without doses of twee pop",[8] along with Syd Barrett's whimsical, nostalgic and childlike take on psychedelia, and Ray Davies of the Kinks' quirky character portraits (e.g. 'Phenomenal Cat') proved influential to the genre.[9] Pitchfork cited David Bowie's "Kooks" and "Fill Your Heart" as "primitive twee-pop".[10] Female sunshine pop singer Margo Guryan (e.g. 'Why Do I Cry?') and outsider girl group the Shaggs were later credited with presaging twee pop, the latter on their albums Philosophy of the World and Shaggs' Own Thing.[11]

Early indie pop musicians such as Dan Treacy of the Television Personalities would later draw influence from Jonathan Richman and Syd Barrett as heard on songs like 'Geoffrey Ingram' and 'I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives', becoming a pivotal influence to the C86 generation, including bands like the Pastels and Beat Happening.[12] Additionally, Daniel Johnston's personal and naive lo-fi music also shaped twee pop with members of the two aforementioned bands covering his songs.[13] Arizona's Jr. Chemists blended DIY sensibilities with childlike naivety on tracks like 'Building a Fort', 'Spooky Cooties' and 'Bizzy Worms'.[14] Subsequently, the Go-Betweens debut single 'Lee Remick' and New Zealand's Dunedin scene, which included the Clean and Chris Knox's Tall Dwarfs would be equally influential to the twee pop genre.[15] Other influences include the Monochrome Set (e.g. 'Inside Your Heart'), the Deep Freeze Mice and the Smiths as well as Scottish bands like the Jesus and Mary Chain and the Vaselines.[16]

Female led UK post-punk groups such as the Raincoats,[17] the Slits, Marine Girls, the Particles,[18] and Young Marble Giants[19] have also been assessed as precursors to twee pop.[20]

1980s

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Stephen Pastel in 1982.

NME released the C86 cassette in 1986, bringing together a collection of jangle pop guitar-driven indie bands which despite encompassing a variety of different styles, several of those featured artists would become early twee pop pioneers, including the Pastels and the Shop Assistants. These bands challenged aggressive and machismo punk rock conventions by embracing a lo-fi, DIY aesthetic whilst frequently singing innocent, sensitive ,and authentic songs about young love and adolescence.[21] The indie pop side of the cassette modelled themselves after and drew influence from bands like the Smiths and the Jesus and Mary Chain.[22]

Subsequently, English bands such as Talulah Gosh from Oxford, England formed in 1986, and London's the Field Mice, formed in 1987; their music combined lush melodies and tender lyrics with a jangly, dreamlike sound. They signed to Sarah Records, an independent record label that became the center point of the British twee pop scene.[23] Beat Happening, a lo-fi trio from Olympia, Washington who formed in 1982 became a pivotal influence in America's own variant of the scene.[24]

International variants of twee and indie pop emerged in the late 1980s to early 1990s, such as Tontipop and Sonido Donosti in Spain[25] as well as Shibuya-kei in Japan.[26]

1990s-2000s

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In the 1990s, twee pop bands such as Tiger Trap, the Softies and Heavenly would have their music released on Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening's independent record label, K Records, helping further develop the scene.[27] Other influential groups were Black Tambourine and Velocity Girl.[22] By the 2000s, twee pop had become an influential genre in the alternative music scene with bands like Belle and Sebastian, the Moldy Peaches, Camera Obscura, and the Lucksmiths drawing influence from the original movement.[28]

2010s-2020s

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In 2022, twee pop experienced a revival amongst Gen z on TikTok, particularly it's aesthetics which had been re-developed in the late 2000s to early 2010s on internet sites like Tumblr. This revival coincided with the re-emergence of indie sleaze, which brought about renewed interest in the original twee pop scene. [29] Pitchfork stated that according to TikTok, twee was now "[...] anything feminine or vaguely melancholy, and the majority of #twee videos seem unconcerned with the trend’s potential uncoolness".[28][30]

Characteristics

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According to NPR, twee pop "was fervently informed by punk: snappy riffs, fast-track tempos, propulsive drums."[31] Artists such as Heavenly, Talulah Gosh, and Marine Girls were primarily women who wrote about love, relationships, and personal empowerment. While the music sounded lighthearted and naive, the subject matter was often gritty and dark. Twee pop has been seen as a feminist response to tough, invulnerable, masculine punk and post-punk music scenes of the time.

Heavenly performing at Emerald Centre
Heavenly performing at Emerald Centre

Many twee artists, such as Blueboy, were openly queer.[32] In the 1990s, Indiepop and twee scenes rejected the sexist, homophobic, and racist attitudes of mainstream music.[23]

A retrospective fascination with the genre in the US saw Americans eagerly defining themselves as twee.[33] According to The A.V. Club's Paula Mejia:

The difference between "twee" and "indie pop" is slight but polarizing. Both styles of music transcended genre, became a tape-trading lifestyle, and have similar influences, drawing from the Ramones' minimalist three-chord structures as much as The Jesus And Mary Chain's salty pop harmonies. Everyone varies slightly on origins ... Twee itself began as a vast collection of sounds, gathering the threads where luminaries left off, and carving out divergent avenues in their wake.

AllMusic says that twee pop is "perhaps best likened to bubblegum indie rock—it's music with a spirit of D.I.Y. defiance in the grand tradition of punk, but with a simplicity and innocence not seen or heard since the earliest days of rock & roll".[2] The author Marc Spitz suggests that the roots of twee stem from post-war 1950s music.[34] While the culture categorized itself under the moniker of "indie" (short for independent), many major twee powerhouses gained mainstream critical acclaim for their contributions to the twee movement.[35]

References

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  1. ^ "Indie Pop". AllMusic.
  2. ^ a b c "Twee Pop". AllMusic.
  3. ^ a b Moreland, Quinn (11 February 2022). "The Surprise Endurance of Twee". Pitchfork. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Definition of TWEE". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  5. ^ Myers, Ben; Myers, Benjamin (8 February 2008). "The return of twee indie music". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  6. ^ "The Singles Jukebox » Lou Reed". Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  7. ^ jefftobias (13 February 2013). "Restlessness and Jonathan Richman". Flagpole. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  8. ^ McGee, Alan (17 July 2007). "The Byrds take me eight miles high". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  9. ^ Jonze, Tim (4 December 2006). "I know how Syd Barrett lived". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  10. ^ Pitchfork (23 June 2004). "The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  11. ^ Nickey, Jason. "Various Artists: Better Than the Beatles: A Tribute to the Shaggs". Pitchfork. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  12. ^ "Television Personalities – FIRE RECORDS". www.firerecords.com. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  13. ^ Myers, Ben; Myers, Benjamin (8 February 2008). "The return of twee indie music". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  14. ^ "Jr. CHemists". sledbag.com. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  15. ^ Stafford, Andrew (27 January 2017). "Flying Nun Records: 10 of the best songs of the Dunedin sound". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  16. ^ Smiths, Songs (20 April 2015). "THIS IS OUR MUSIC: The Slits – "Typical Girls"". SONGS SMITHS. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  17. ^ Kidwell, Victor. "What is Twee Pop?". The Lasso. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  18. ^ "The Particles". MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  19. ^ "Rough Trade Essential: Great British Bands". Rough Trade Blog. 16 October 2024. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  20. ^ "Young Marble Giants | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  21. ^ Hann, Michael (14 March 2014). "C86: The myths about the NME's indie cassette debunked". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  22. ^ a b "The 10 Best Twee Pop Albums To Own On Vinyl". Vinyl Me, Please. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  23. ^ a b "Twee as Fuck - Page 2". Pitchfork. 24 October 2005.
  24. ^ Bugel, Safi (14 November 2022). "Beat Happening: 'It was about having this adventure with your friends'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  25. ^ Romero, Elena (16 February 2021). "Dios bendiga el TONTIPOP: la revolución de la música alegre para días tristes". vanidad.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  26. ^ Ohanesian, Liz (13 April 2011). "Japanese Indie Pop: The Beginner's Guide to Shibuya-Kei". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on 9 July 2023. If you're going to start digging around in the Shibuya-kei crates, Pizzicato 5 is the best place to start. Our reasoning for this is simple, out of all the bands that came out of this scene, they came closest to breaking through on a wide scale in the U.S.
  27. ^ Huges, Dan (3 April 2017). "In a Band? You Need to Check Out Washington's K Records". DrownedInSound. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  28. ^ a b Moreland, Quinn (11 February 2022). "The Surprise Endurance of Twee". Pitchfork. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  29. ^ tobin, katie (25 January 2022). "Clutch Your Pearls, the Indie Twee Aesthetic is Back". VICE. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  30. ^ Lochrie, Conor (19 January 2022). "A guide to twee pop in seven bands". Tone Deaf. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  31. ^ Sherman, Maria. "Twee Your Mind: How Tiger Trap Taught Me That Tenderness Is Punk". NPR. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  32. ^ Stephanie Burt (10 May 2011). "Young and Quite Pretty". London Review of Books. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  33. ^ Twee; Paul Morley's Guide to Musical Genres, BBC Radio 2, 10 June 2008
  34. ^ Spitz, Marc (2014). Twee: The Gentle Revolution in Music, Books, Television, Fashion, and Film. It Books. p. abstract. ISBN 978-0062213044.
  35. ^ Abebe, Nitsuh (24 October 2005), "Twee as Fuck: The Story of Indie Pop", Pitchfork, archived from the original on 28 February 2016, retrieved 9 July 2016
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