Twee pop

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox music genre Twee pop is a subgenre of indie pop<ref name="AMIndiePop">Template:Cite web</ref> that originates from the 1986 NME compilation C86.<ref name="AMTwee" /> Twee pop gets its name from the aesthetic of twee, which is known for its simplicity and childlike innocence.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> 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).<ref name="AMTwee">Template:Cite web</ref>

Twee pop gained popularity in the 1990s and has seen a recent revival in the 2020s.<ref name=":0" />

Etymology

Template:Further The definition of twee is something "excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental," supposedly born from a childish mispronunciation of the word sweet.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> With the twee movement's embrace of innocence and femininity, the genre has strong associations with feminism.

Characteristics

According to NPR, twee pop "was fervently informed by punk: snappy riffs, fast-track tempos, propulsive drums."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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. Template:Plain image with caption

Many twee artists, such as Blueboy, were openly queer.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In the 1990s, Indiepop and twee scenes rejected the sexist, homophobic, and racist attitudes of mainstream music.<ref name="pitchfork">Template:Cite web</ref>

A retrospective fascination with the genre in the US saw Americans eagerly defining themselves as twee.<ref name="BBC Radio 2">Template:Citation</ref> According to The A.V. ClubTemplate:'s Paula Mejia:

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".<ref name="AMTwee" /> The author Marc Spitz suggests that the roots of twee stem from post-war 1950s music.<ref name="Spitz abstract">Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref name="TAF">Template:Citation</ref>