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Twee as…

I am fascinated by this article: Twee as Fuck: The Story of Indie Pop, by Nitsuh Abebe, despite, or maybe because of, the fact that I’m not familiar with a lot of the bands referenced. I’m very interested in what it says about indie pop gender dynamics & aesthetics. I see a lot of similarities between the scene as described and what I’ve observed with zinesters & minicomics artists in the Pacific Northwest & elsewhere. the_misha, as a working musician in perhaps a not-dissimilar genre, I’d be curious about your take on the article.

October 24, 2005 By

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  • the_misha
    October 25, 2005 at 5:37 pm

    I completely get your fascination with the article. Or, rather, I get my fascination with it, which has a lot to do with my fascination with glenn mcdonald’s series of essays-disguised-as-music-reviews relating to a number of the bands mentioned herein. I haven’t heard most of these bands, either… not even Tiger Trap, who I should’ve heard.

    And yes, the gender issues mentioned are still very much at play. (…he said, biting his metaphorical tongue to keep from going on an extended rant about gender roles and expectations and the hidden reactionary-conservative nature of most “pop” music and musicians, “indie” or otherwise…)

    There’s more, but I’m going to have to go away, think about it and get back to you later. In the meantime, I now desperately want a tee-shirt bearing the words “twee as fuck.”

    I blame you for this.

    :)

  • capn_jil
    October 30, 2005 at 5:30 am

    this is really interesting. i know very little about the zine/indie/sweater aesthetic except how it’s presented now, and reading something like this is cracking my head usefully

    also reminds me of Bett William’s glorious article on some indierock happening or other that happened in Oly.

    why does all this shit worship youth so feverishly?

  • anonymous
    October 30, 2005 at 3:31 pm

    Speaking of the youth worship, when I was in college I went to a Beat Happening show in Olympia in the late stages of their career and it was kind of spooky. It was an all-ages show, and most of the audience were high school students. Calvin, a 30-something dude, was gyrating in this strange, sexualized way singing these off-key childish crush ballads in front of all of these minors. Afterwards Calvin was mobbed by these underage girls. It kind of dimmed my desire to see them live ever again, though I still enjoy the music.

  • capn_jil
    October 31, 2005 at 8:25 am

    Yeah, that kind of dynamic in the indie music scene makes me righteously uncomfortable. Oh well.

  • anonymous
    November 22, 2005 at 7:15 am

    It’s weird…I am a huge fan of “twee-pop”. I know most of the bands mentioned in the article and own many CD’s and (JOY!) vinyl offerings. The weird part is that I’m also very into Black Metal. What’s wrong with me when in my CD changer I have Ladybug Transistor, Belle & Sebastian, Enslaved, Immortal and Finishing School (perhaps my fav twee band)? I also need a “Twee As Fuck” shirt. Anyone know where to get one?
    -Brian
    http://www.myspace.com/gwts

  • Kaylan
    May 1, 2007 at 3:34 pm

    You make your own tee, thats the fun of it.