Camera Obscura – The Sweetest Thing
One of my clear favorites for this year and a perfect record for this season, even though it was released in the spring. I’m not sure if we’re still calling this “twee-pop” or not, but Camera Obscura always deliver solid 60’s style pop sounds and their latest LP is a sugary sweet summery affair. Standouts include “The Sweetest Thing,” “Honey in the Sun,” “French Navy” and the title track.
They were in Los Angeles back in June and stopped by KCRW for a performance, which I highly recommend watching. In addition to the fine music and their Glaswegian accents, which are truly adorable, one of the members sole purpose on multiple songs is tambourine duty and you just have to love that…
Hmmm, I would think that Camera Obscura are a bit too elegant for the "twee-pop" label. Especially where they are on this record. I don't really get anything that feels affectedly little girlish from Tracyanne's vocal delivery, she actually seems far more womanly than most of her contemporaries in my humble opinion 🙂
But I understand the confusion, it seems that the definition of that word is almost impossible to get a grasp on, especially here in the states. I probably spend a much larger amount of my time than I really should turning the debates that center around that word over and over in my mind. Most of my English friends (especially those that were into the first wave of bands that received the tag) would have you believe that uttering that word – even if it is used merely as a genre description applied to a band that you enjoy – is somewhat on par with insulting someone's family. Newer schools of thought tend to argue that the word has in fact been reclaimed by subsequent generations of indiepop fans. In fact with "indiepop" being a far broader term these days that can be applied to a wide variety of bands of whom many probably have very little in common with anything that was ever released on Sarah Records (for example), I have heard it mentioned that the twee label offers listeners a far more specific idea of what they might expect from the music, whether or not the music seems "affectedly dainty, quaint, or childish" (twee). This was employed (usually by music journalists) as way to write off bands like Talulah Gosh. Which still seems strange to me as I always saw the appearance of Talulah Gosh, and the fact that there were child-like themes in some of their songs, and the way they blended classic pop styles into a punk rock presentation was incredibly subversive. Even more subversive were the bands that set the stage for them like Television Personalities, Orange Juice, the Pastels, the Shop Assistants, etc. Especially TVPs and OJ as they were doing that when their really was very little precedent set for something like that to exist, and it was in the face of a lot of machismo in the current musical climate. Plus, on the note of being very punk Talulah Gosh's performances were reportedly fast, loud, and always somewhat on the verge of falling apart completely. Needless to say I really wish that I could have seen one!
I suppose the biggest source of trouble with the term is whether or not it has been, in any sense, genuinely reclaimed. There was the whole "Twee as Fuck" campaign which I believe was the first instance ofsing the word in a defiant manner though I've still yet to trace the origin of that phrase. Then there was the naming of the first (and still most prominent) indiepop internet database "Tweenet." Tullycraft writing a song simply entitled "Twee," with it's New Order-esque driving guitar/bass lines, and the assertive chorus of: "Well you can keep the punk, rock, ska, rap, beats, and house, fuck me I'm twee," did kind of give the impression that it was a badge of honor. The description of the indiepop list offers a glimpse into the derogatory history of the word, but doesn't do anything in particular to dispel the notion that the word shouldn't be perfectly acceptable as a genre term:
"TweeNet is the official World Wide Web site of the indiepop mailing list.
The Indiepop mailing-list is devoted to discussion of independently produced pop music, the kind that tends to come out on small-run seven-inch singles with handmade sleeves. They call it "wimpy" and "twee", but Pop Kids everywhere know that the true spirit of Punk Rock lives on not in the mass-marketed "alternative" scene, or the sub-metal caterwauling of testosterone-poisoned grunge-rockers, but in the simple and pure efforts of kids banging out sweet delicious songs on cheap guitars."
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Tweenet is the fact that it is such a thorough database, and will contain pages on bands that could not possibly be described as "twee." Orange Juice for one (and all of Postcard Records really), Felt, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Slowdive – all of these bands are in that database because of early record label associations, and/or their ties with early indiepop. This to me says a lot for the argument that not much of what is labeled as "twee," is actually twee. If you like Felt, and the Jesus and Mary Chain, but you also like the Pastels and the June Brides then it's not really fitting for any of those bands to be called "twee."
Of course, I think the part of it that I am most intrigued by these days is how "Twee" has evolved from a word that is constantly debated on the merits of it's ability to degrade, or empower, to something that is seen by some individuals as incredibly fashionable. That is the thing that I think I would most like to explore if I am ever able to write about the subject in depth.
This is an interesting post that sort of wonders aloud about this idea:
http://heavenisabove.blogspot.com/2008/11/youll-n…
Hopefully this wasn't too much rambling. I've been trying to sort out my thoughts on this subject in order to write an interesting article for almost a year now, and it was really nice to write some of them down here!
Hot damn…now that's what I call a comment! Ain't nothing wrong with rambling, but when it's on point like this it can't really be classified as rambling, it's just thorough. Good luck with the article!