Editing Twee pop

{{Short description|Subgenre of indie pop}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Twee pop
| other_names       = 
| stylistic_origins = * [[Indie pop]]
* [[post-punk]]
* [[pop music|pop]]
* [[guitar pop]]
* [[girl group]]s
| cultural_origins  = {{circa|1986}}, United Kingdom
| derivatives       = 
| subgenrelist      = 
| subgenres         = 
| fusiongenres      = 
| regional_scenes   = 
| other_topics      = * [[Anorak (slang)|Anorak]]
* [[Math rock]]
}}
'''Twee pop''' is a [[subgenre]] of [[indie pop]]<ref name="AMIndiePop">{{cite web |title=Indie Pop |url=http://www.allmusic.com/style/indie-pop-ma0000004494 |publisher=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> that originates from the 1986 ''[[NME]]'' compilation ''[[C86 (album)|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">{{Cite web |last=Moreland |first=Quinn |date=2022-02-11 |title=The Surprise Endurance of Twee |url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/the-surprise-endurance-of-twee/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref> Some of its defining features are boy-girl harmonies, catchy melodies, and lyrics about love. For many years, prominent [[independent record label]]s associated with twee pop were [[Sarah Records]] (in the UK) and [[K Records]] (in the US).<ref name="AMTwee">{{cite web|title=Twee Pop|url=http://www.allmusic.com/style/twee-pop-ma0000012201|website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref>

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

==Etymology==
{{Further|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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of TWEE |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/twee |website=www.merriam-webster.com |access-date=11 January 2021 |language=en}}</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 rock|punk]]: snappy riffs, fast-track tempos, propulsive drums."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sherman |first1=Maria |title=Twee Your Mind: How Tiger Trap Taught Me That Tenderness Is Punk |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/06/04/1002484324/twee-your-mind-how-tiger-trap-taught-me-that-tenderness-is-punk |website=NPR |access-date=November 25, 2024}}</ref> Artists such as [[Heavenly (British band)|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.
{{plain image with caption|Heavenly indie 1994.jpg|caption=Heavenly performing at Emerald Centre|align=left|caption position=bottom|upright=1}}

Many twee artists, such as [[Blueboy (band)|Blueboy]], were openly queer.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[London Review of Books]]|url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2011/may/young-and-quite-pretty|title=Young and Quite Pretty|author=[[Stephanie Burt]]|date=10 May 2011|access-date=8 December 2023}}</ref> In the 1990s, indie pop and twee scenes rejected the sexist, homophobic, and racist attitudes of mainstream music.<ref name="pitchfork">{{cite web |date=24 October 2005 |title=Twee as Fuck - Page 2 |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/6176-twee-as-fuck/?page=2 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]}}</ref> 

A retrospective fascination with the genre in the US saw Americans eagerly defining themselves as twee.<ref name="BBC Radio 2">{{Citation |title=Twee; Paul Morley's Guide to Musical Genres |publisher=[[BBC Radio 2]] |date=10 June 2008 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00bz94n}}</ref> According to ''[[The A.V. Club]]''{{'}}s Paula Mejia:

{{blockquote|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 pop|bubblegum]] [[indie rock]]—it's music with a spirit of D.I.Y. defiance in the grand tradition of [[Punk rock|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">{{cite book |last=Spitz |first=Marc |date=2014 |title=Twee: The Gentle Revolution in Music, Books, Television, Fashion, and Film |url=https://archive.org/details/tweegentlerevolu0000spit |publisher=It Books |page=abstract |isbn=978-0062213044}}</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">{{Citation |title=Twee as Fuck: The Story of Indie Pop |first=Nitsuh |last=Abebe |work=Pitchfork |date=24 October 2005 |url=http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/6176-twee-as-fuck/ |access-date=9 July 2016 |archive-date=28 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160228103927/http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/6176-twee-as-fuck/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{pop music}}

[[Category:Indie pop]]
[[Category:1986 introductions]]
[[Category:20th-century music genres]]
[[Category:British styles of music]]
[[Category:Rock music genres]]
[[Category:Pop music genres]]