Twee Pop: A History

There’s a scene in the 2000 movie “High Fidelity” that introduced a lot of people to the name Belle and Sebastian.

Rob, the owner of a record store, and his employee, Dick, are enjoying a new arrival.

Then Barry, another employee played by Jack Black, bursts through the door.

This goes on for a while before Rob has enough and rips the cassette out of the machine.

I have a couple of issues with that scene…first, I have a hard time believing that an obnoxious snobby indie record store clerk would love “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves that much…way too commercial, way too overplayed.

Second, there is nothing wrong with Belle and Sebastian—although I will admit they’re not for everyone.

They are part of a genre called “Twee Pop”…you may never have heard the term before, but its influence is everywhere these days…and it has a long history when it comes to alt-rock and indie rock…it’s certainly something we should take a look at…so let’s do that, shall we?

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