What do you think of when you hear the phrase “indie pop”? Is it pop music that just happens to be released on an independent label? What defines the sound?
It seems strange to think of now, when some artists are considered indie pop even when they’re on major labels, but indie pop music in its beginning stages was more than a general tag to put on music when it doesn’t fit under any other predetermined umbrella of music.
Indie pop’s origins actually trace back to 1970s United Kingdom. It incorporated punk’s DIY ethic, but stripped away punk’s abrasive nature and angst while adding more melody and songs about love and heartbreak. In the 1980s, indie pop became more widespread, and this culminated in the seminal C86 cassette compilation released in 1986, which featured some key elements that helped develop indie pop as a genre all its own.
From the popularization of indie pop came a subgenre known as twee pop. Twee pop, supposedly named after a child-like mispronunciation of the word “sweet”, is unique from indie pop in subtle yet important ways. Twee pop was characterized by lyrics about crushes and heartbreak. Also, the indie scene, which up until this point was largely a male-dominated scene, now was also filled with girls, including ones who weren’t necessarily interested in conforming to traditional gender roles. Although the music associated with twee pop sounds sweet and sometimes childlike, the punk ethos never left the scene, and the DIY mentality can be heard all through the songs of this genre.
Twee pop was released on a variety of independent labels, one of the most famous being the seminal Sarah Records, which was created in 1987 by Clare Wadd and Matt Haynes, which gained momentum by being featured in fanzines. Some bands who released music through Sarah Records included The Field Mice and Another Sunny Day. Beat Happening frontman Calvin Johnson created K Records. Formed in 1982, K Records released seminal records that would go on to define the sound of twee pop, such as Tiger Trap’s 1993 debut and Backwash by Talulah Gosh.
Twee pop may not be as widely known as it once was, but elements of it can be heard in countless recordings throughout the past 30 years, from Belle & Sebastian to Frankie Cosmos. Below are some key recordings of the genre:
The Field Mice – “Emma’s House”
Black Tambourine – “Throw Aggi Off the Bridge”
Talulah Gosh – “Beatnik Boy”
Tiger Trap – “Supercrush”
Beat Happening – “Indian Summer”
The Softies – “The Best Days”
Honeybunch – “Mind Your Own Business”
Magnetic Fields – “100,000 Fireflies”
Heavenly – “C is the Heavenly Option”
Rocketship – “Your New Boyfriend”
The Vaselines – “Molly’s Lips”
Tullycraft – “Twee”
photos: Talulah Gosh, The Field Mice, Beat Happening