Histor-twee

Sorry for the title.

So I stumbled upon the other day the mecca for twee history, written compactly, comprehensively, and sadly, slightly belligerently. Hum. Pitchfork, a great sight to find reviews and articles concerning the not-so-huge music in today's culture, hooked me up to a great article; Nitsuh Abebe's Twee as Fuck (Which is a funny phrase; you'll understand when you're older).

They begin with some roots. Indie pop popped up around the late 70's and early 80's with the advent of the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) culture, bands making their own tapes and unprofessionally recorded music and selling it without the help of big record companies. Punk was too oppressive, and while the rockers valued DIY concepts and shitty vocals, a breed of people obsessed with cute and innocence was thriving, waiting to jangle their guitar strings, to bop back and forth to drum beats. These were the twee children.

"Twee" was born of the sound of a baby saying sweet; there's just something too cute about it. I didn't want to quote the article, but I couldn't pass up Abebe's perfect sentiment; "This stuff was looking for something else-- something more like the charm of watching children put on plays in their backyard, where anyone can be a star, where construction-paper props turn big gestures into something small and pure, and where the whole endeavor feels like a beautiful, private gift." So the movement moved on. Sarah Records, one of the first powerful indie labels was born, selling 7" records in homemade sleeves. Sarah Records also began releasing the first real zine, a magazine for indie pop kids which was cute, compact, and homedrawn. There was something so elementary school, in the sappy lyrics, the lyrical chirps, the chirping bops, twee was easy to love. It was not rock, it was not manly or hard or sexual; it was bliss.

Blah blah blah, read the article. A lot of good stuff. Early bands, the fact that Kurt Cobain started in a twee band, some fun facts. Twee is still a force to be reckoned with. I'm going to cover the rest of this article in the next post, I'm a little low on time, and if I save this as a draft, nothing will ever get done. See you soon, kids.

Abebe, Nitsuh. "Twee as Fuck." Pitchfork. 24 Oct. 2005. Pitchfork Media. 13 Oct. 2008.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/10242-twee-as-fuck

Today I am listening to Acid House Kings
Going down the Drain,
Joseph C