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Tag Archives: twee as fuck

Set Me Twee: Les Glass Glacé

Early in this blog’s history, I was obsessed with indie-pop. Whether it was a holdover of my time in college where I bragged about liking The Field Mice (not the coolest kid in the dorm, as you could imagine) or because I still sometimes read Nitsuh Abebe’s “Twee As Fuck” article in awe, Make Believe Melodies used to live up to its twee-tastic name by featuring countless jangly groups dotting Japan like Lawson’s convenience stores. Many of those outfits warranted their spots here, while a few probably lucked into a post by just sounding like what I wanted to hear rather than making really good music. Today, though, indie-pop isn’t quite as dominating – electronic artists, from the shadowy CUZ ME PAIN types to the trip-tastic INNIT crew, have vaulted over anything taking cues from Sarah Records.

Yet I haven’t lost the taste for melancholy pop songs, and Osaka’s Les Glass Glacé fills the void just right. The project recently released three new songs of sparse twee. Living up to the style’s DIY spirit, the brief “Half Of Us Ever” features not much more than singing, soft hand claps and some electronic doodling. “Winter Marine Day” – bit misleading of a title, as it sounds more like the warmest part of Spring – gets filled out a little more, but is still pretty skeletal. Yet who needs flesh when the melody sounds as nice as the one here, or on “Fun Marine Day #3 Bittersweet Love Authority” (which is early favorite for “twee-est song title of the year)? Les Glass Glacé makes simple, sweet music – the type of stuff that still excites me. Listen below.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/1618156″ height=”200″ iframe=”true” /]

Excessive Cuteness Maybe?: Czecho No Republic’s “Rainbow”

Indie pop can be a strange mistress. I’ve gone on record as declaring I’m hopelessly doomed to love twee-leaning music probably for the rest of my life. Yet, contrary to the amount of posts tagged “twee” on this here web log, I’m not googly-eyed over every single cutesy band. Sometimes this sorta wimpy stuff can be too wimpy even for someone prone to looking at cat-picture Tumblrs for hours at a time. Or, in an even easier situation, the music just isn’t that good.

Czecho No Republic’s “Rainbow” exists in some weird limbo between charmingly good and I’ll charm your face to last Thursday, bub. This gets off to a great start with those NES-mimicking keyboards and that nice beat, and the following verse isn’t stays above water while holding onto that jellybean-colored inner tube. The chorus though just seems…not interesting? It sounds like old andymori, but not good old andymori, the times when andymori were grasping at J-Rock mass appeal. Yet everything else sounds plenty catchy and twinkly, and the parts where Czecho No Republic let loose a little add vital changes during these four minutes. A mixed bag of indie pop, showing off the best and worst of the genre. Listen below.

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQo004vzW_U”]

Anywhere Is OK: Moscow Club’s “Daisy Miller Pt. 1”

Moscow Club’s official blog is a hodgepodge of English, Russian and Japanese (the latter being the language of their actual home country), an appropriate mix given their preference for the sort of indie-pop that transcends cultural barriers and goes straight for the heart instead. New track “Daisy Miller Pt. 1” further backs up this universal feeling via the hazy atmosphere of the whole thing, Moscow Club bypassing any sort of percussion for fading guitars and vocals that drift away, words coming out but run through such a dreamy filter that you can’t really tell what they are saying. Canopies And Drapes stops by to add some honey-sweet backing vocals, a nice touch to this, a very Radio Dept.-ish number. It’s the way everything just floats there…definitely helped by the lack of drums…that makes this such an inviting song, a moment frozen in time. Borders wouldn’t matter with this one. Listen below.

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Vintage Good: Traffic Light

It has been a great year for retro-leaning acts in Japan. Sloppy Joe put 80s-era indie-pop into a big ol’ bear hug on their excellent debut album, while Friends smothered 60s beach pop under waves of distortion. Joining them in 2011…the unexcitedly named Traffic Light. Behind that very bland name, though, exist some very lovely twee rooted in The Byrds janglier moments. The cryptically titled “It’s Over I’ve Seen It All Before” stands as the group’s strongest song, a melancholy walk in the park concealing hints of better times but unmistakably consumed with the sadder present. Most stinging of all is the thought expressed by the title…that our narrator has already gone through this once before, and knows what’s coming next.

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eJY3ESlknw”]

“Good Bye” covers similar terrain – see the similarly downtrodden title – but Traffic Light are also capable of more smile-inducing moments as well. “Come With Me” adds Country-Bear-percussion to the band’s usual formula to hoppy results. The only downside…the more upbeat number lasts less than two minutes. Still, gotta take happiness when you can get it, and at least Traffic Light make the sadder parts sound nice.

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8XEDu_EQ0w”]

Hmmmm turns out it isn’t all that fleeting after all. After writing the above, I learned the band’s first self-released demo can be heard in its entirety here. It’s a good listen, steeped in 60s references (hello “Be My Baby” drum beat!) that can blur together at times but independently sound like perfect summer stroll music. The real highlight ends up being “Clocks,” guided by a melty organ. Solid debut.

90’s Formula: Honeydew

So who do these guys sound like? Yo La Tengo? Sorta like The Smashing Pumpkins? Kinda like Britpop? “Indie music?” Tough to call, but they come off as definitively 90’s as a flannel-clad dude drinking OK soda. Thing is…that’s OK! Everyone is running back to that Clinton-tastic decade…you read a (bafflingly postively) Yuck review? Or what about The Pains Of Being Heart, who got the guy who produced The Smashing Pumpkins to work on their new LP. Honeydew aren’t quite as obvious, but still can easily be linked to 90’s indie pop courtesy of laid-back pace and lots of guitars. “Little Rusty Lemon” stands as the obvious highlight, a catchy bit of breezy music either about twee-tastic love or a literal, shitty car (or both???). Simple stuff, but effective all the same.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/16627027″]

“Heavy Rainy Day” veers a little heavier (louder), but follows the same fine blueprint. Again, pick your own 90’s reference point, but don’t forget to enjoy the music.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/16625879″]