Day 24: Twee Pop

Tullycraft
Disenchanted Hearts Unite

What follows is the text of a review I wrote in September of '05 for Delusions of Adequacy (www.adequacy.net), a music zine for which I have been a long-time contributor and with which Idiom Idiots recently partnered. A DOA Exclusive of the Idiom Idiots column will now appear on DOA each week.

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“It was the record that you needed to complete your pop collection. It was everything you wanted – it was some source of affection.” So begins “Stowaway,” the effervescent triumph that kicks off Tullycraft’s new record. From the opening guitar line, the sound is so blissful, energetic, and charming that anyone who has even flirted with the idea of twee-pop saving the world will know instantly that Disenchanted Hearts Unite is the very record about which Tullycraft sings with such reverence. This is not brash arrogance. This is the kind of inability to contain one’s enthusiasm that can only result from a good group all too aware that it is touching upon greatness. How delightfully postmodern!

For those who must sheepishly admit that Tullycraft has until now escaped their radar, some exposition is in order. Tullycraft, a cult-band itself, was formed in 1995 by members of Crayon (singer/bassist Sean Tollefson and drummer Jeff Fell) and Wimp Factor 14 (guitarist Gary Miklusek) - two Harriet Records cult-bands. That year saw the group release the singles “True Blue,” and the impeccably titled, Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend’s too Stupid to Know About. In the years to follow, Tullycraft released three solid full-length albums (1996’s Old Traditions, New Standards, 1998’s City of Subarus, and 2002’s Beat, Surf, Fun) and assorted tracks for singles and compilations.

Since its inception, Tullycraft has also experienced several lineup changes. Keyboard player and guitarist Chris Munford (of Incredible Force of Junior) signed on in 1998, and Gary Miklusek left in 1999. After Miklusek’s departure, the group took what it refers to as an “extended layoff” – during which the future of the band seemed uncertain. In 2002, the group returned with guitarist Harold Hollingsworth who had previously toured with the group, and recorded Beat, Surf, Fun for Magic Marker Records. Coming three years later, Disenchanted Hearts Unite features a further revised lineup that now includes Corianton Hale on second guitar and Jenny Mears on vocals.

Disenchanted Hearts Unite is the culmination of years of fine-tuning from a group talented enough to spark a cult following from its earliest creations. To say that the record will likely go down as Tullycraft’s magnum opus is not to diminish its prior or future works. After all, this is a group whose lead singer once boasted “Fuck me, I’m twee!” on “Twee” from Beat, Surf, Fun. Still, one would be hard pressed to recall or even imagine a record on which Tullycraft or any other twee-pop outfit might sound as tight, joyous, or vital.

Musically and lyrically, Disenchanted Hearts Unite is the pinnacle of twee-pop preciousness. Combine playfully earnest lyrics with keyboards, jangling guitars, boy-girl harmonies, trinket-like percussion, and addictive hooks and you’ve got not only an apt description of this record but also a fairly accurate definition of the genre of twee. There are no weak songs here, but the group is undoubtedly at its best when it cranks up the volume and the tempo. Aside from the opener, “Stowaway,” the finest example of Tullycraft’s pulsating power is “Rumble with the Gang Debs.” This tour-de-force is replete with shimmering guitars, jittery, start-stop rhythms, and enough ‘Bap ba’s” “Ahh ah’s” and “Woo hoo’s” to fill a New Pornographers album (the group must also really like this song because they’re even selling “Rumble with Gang Debs” t-shirts on their website).

As is customary on twee-pop records, the lyrical themes here are as light and bubbly as the music. Tullycraft has always seemed very conscious of its own aura, but here the group’s lyrics seem especially self-aware. This postmodern aesthetic makes even the few songs that don’t conjure Valentine’s Day and candy hearts seem precious. On “Molly’s Got a Crush on Us” (originally recorded by the BMX Bandits as “Kylie’s Got a Crush on Us”), the group proclaims “Well we’re the best band you never heard / We took the song and simply changed the words...Molly got a crush on us.” The group also discusses indie rockers on “Secretly Minnesotan,” which tells of a man named Ricky who “works in a record store on the weekends / Between Vincent and Second Street / Writing songs on a VS840 8-track / Using Midi to push the beats.” If that’s not enough, the listener is later informed that “Ricky says that my band’s [Tullycraft’s] just a Sebadoh rip-off / And I can’t disagree.”

If all this seems a bit too precious, remember that such is the defining characteristic of the genre in which Tullycraft works. Moreover, Tullycraft’s wit, charisma, and musical ability make it hard to not to fall under the spell of Disenchanted Hearts Unite. Thus far, it is without question the best twee-pop album released this year. And it’s among the best of any genre.

-Ben Ewing
09/01/05

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Click here to read an interview I conducted with Tullycraft following the release of Disenchanted Hearts Unite.

Hear "Stowaway" superimposed over some concert footage.