Research Guides
Haley Brunner
June 8, 2012
Honors 394B
The Sweet Pups and 60’s Pop Music
The burgeoning music scene in Seattle is home to a plethora of musicians and groups that span the spectrum of musical genres. The Sweet Pups, a four-piece rock group lead by singer Priscilla Ray from the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle, is a difficult band to classify into a specific genre. They list garage, punk, surf, and 60’s girl group music as some of their main musical influences, but the surf and 60’s girl group references seem to be the most prominent and audible of these. Although The Sweet Pup’s sound is reminiscent of The Ronettes and The Shangri-Las, popular girl groups from the 60’s, and they have songs that draw from 60’s surf music, their stage presence and musical intent seem to differ from these groups. The Sweet Pups have a distinguishable Pacific Northwest vibe that is grittier and darker than the 60’s female and surf groups. This edgy garage aesthetic, coupled with bright, bubbly 60’s influences make their music distinct, especially in the Pacific Northwest.
In the past couple of years, female-fronted groups with similar surf and girl-pop sounds have come onto the music scene, like Best Coast, and The Dum Dum Girls- both groups hailing from California, home to the original surf-inspired music by groups like The Beach Boys. As these groups established themselves around 2010, when their debuts were released (Crazy for You-Best Coast, and I Will Be-The Dum Dum Girls), similar sounds popped up all over the country with other surf and 60’s girl group-inspired bands like Tennis and Frankie Rose and The Outs.
This rise in 60s surf/girl pop sound raises a number of questions. Why has there recently been such a proliferation of groups that sound remarkably similar to 60’s surf and girl-pop groups? Were these groups merely mimicking the sounds and sentiments of these 60’s groups, or were they creating something new? Most of these groups are said to have ‘grown out’ of this highly concentrated 60’s sound after their popular debut albums. The fact that this music movement seems to have fizzled out so quickly is curious- were these direct quotations from 60’s girl groups a technique to give female-fronted groups more initial visibility, or were these girl bands part of an all-encompassing cultural trend in 2009-2010 to view the 60’s, and “vintage-eras” with nostalgia? And, why have The Sweet Pups picked up this sound again?
The Sweet Pups established themselves as a band in Seattle a couple years after this initial re-popularization of surf and 60’s girl pop music. They could be written off as being less innovative and original than bands like Best Coast and The Dum Dum Girls- bands that formed a couple years prior to The Sweet Pups. But, it seems that their intent and sound is unique from other contemporary surf and girl group bands. They incorporate techniques from 60’s pop sounds, but their aesthetic, and sound as a whole references other music genres like garage and punk music. These additional influences give them an edgier more ironic sound that is distinctly Pacific Northwest in character, resulting in a presence that is distinct from bands like Best Coast, and the 60’s girl groups.
The 60’s girl groups had a presence and aesthetic that differs in many ways from contemporary bands like The Sweet Pups. In most of the 60’s groups, the band members dressed alike- they sported similar hairstyles, clothing, and postures; some even had choreographed dance moves (Cyrus, 176). On the cover of The Ronette’s album, Walking in the Rain/How Does it Feel, the group members are virtually indistinguishable. Each woman is wearing a mid-length, metallic blue dress, and all three of them have a bouffant up. Critics have noted that at times, their music seemed to be of secondary importance to their appearances. It has been said that this homogenous dress was incorporated into the bands’ aesthetics to create a sense of solidarity among the group members, and to avoid asserting a hierarchy among group members (Cyrus, 179).
The 60’s groups established themselves in the post World War II climate when women were gaining more independence and freedom to join the workforce and start musical careers. Groups like The Ronettes and The Shangri-Las wanted to show that the women in these bands could be anyone- they wanted to relate to the everyday woman, and inspire her to follow through with her personal career goals (Cyrus, 175). The groups’ dance routines and hairstyles were simple enough for listeners to imitate. Historians have postulated that these techniques were used to inspire women to express themselves outside of their traditional gender roles: “’girl group music was really about us-girls.’ It gave voice to all the warring selves inside us…contradictory messages about female sexuality and rebelliousness were poignantly and authentically expressed” (174).
The songs themselves added to this theme of solidarity among women; they were about “camaraderie,” and “addressed the themes common to the listening age group [teenage girls were their main demographic]” (Cyrus, 179). Perhaps this is why the song lyrics were so simple as well. In the Shangri-Las’ Leader of the Pack, they sing, “I felt so helpless, what could I do? Rememberin’ all the things we’d been through.” The colloquial language used in a song about a lost boyfriend, as well as admitting a sentiment that was surely common among listeners (heartbreak), heightened the sense of unity and shared woes of women at the time.
The manner in which they dressed contributed to this sense of unity with women of the time; however, the styles they wore were progressive and inconsistent with traditional feminine attire of earlier times. No longer were corsets and confining, long dresses from the 19th century a la mode. Paul Poiret and other designers at the beginning of the twentieth century had abolished corsets (Fig.2); in response to the female participation in the war effort and entrance into the workforce, “sporty” menswear inspired clothing was popularized for women. Christian Dior created the “bar suit,” (Fig.3) after World War II as a counterpart to the man’s three-piece suit that had been created in the seventeenth century to distinguish men’s clothing from women’s clothing (Gaylard). This Christian Dior suit consisted of a tight-fitting button up coat, and a flared skirt. At the same time, women began to wear pants, like the men (Gaylard).
The 60’s girl groups incorporated these progressive styles into their bands’ aesthetics. On one of the Shangri-Las Album covers, all three of the girls are wearing different colored slacks. And on The Ronette’s album, Walking in the Sand/How Does it Feel, the women wear short, sporty dresses. Understanding the progressiveness of the clothing the band members wore in context of the styles that had been deemed traditionally feminine, makes it apparent that these women helped to initiate the move from traditional gender spheres toward more progressive roles for women. However, there was some contradiction in their dress, as they also at times wore tight-fitting, cocktail style dresses and up-dos.
On the surface, twenty-first century feminists might see the homogenous dress among the 60’s girl groups, and the simple lyrics in their songs as objectifying rather than progressive. Although the women in these bands dressed in a similar manner, and continued to normalize certain progressive trends for women, the intent behind this homogenization of clothing was to create a sense of unity and solidarity among the band members and their audience. The spheres of male and female attire were no longer completely disparate; women were incorporating traditional men’s clothing into their wardrobes, and they were uniting around this increased liberation in dress. Historian Cynthia Cyrus discusses this idea, “The girl practice of dressing alike…has roots in female socialization and cultural expression, not just in the form of adherence to a regime of feminine attire, but as a symbolic system that signifies female solidarity and female bonding“ (Cyrus, 179) It is important to recognize the progressiveness of 60’s girl group movement for the time. Even people who lived contemporaneously with this 60’s girl-group movement were likely to write the movement off as a female youth movement, rather than a revolutionary or progressive time for females’ growth in music and culture in general, as the main demographic for this movement were teenage girls. (174).
Current critics seem to see the 60’s girl pop movement as youthful and flippant as well. Pitchfork music writers applauded bands like Best Coast when their music “dusted off the kitschy cultural detritus of 1960’s girl-group pop and filtered it through a heavy dose of D.I.Y” (Zoladz). By calling the music from the 1960’s girl groups “detritus,” the critics neglect to acknowledge that there was anything more to this female music movement than “feminine fluff.” There are grounds to the argument that the musicians were objectified and sexualized, and had a distinctly feminine air about them. Even writer Lucy O’Brien who talks about the solidarity and unity involved in the movement sexualizes The Ronette’s lead singer Ronnie, “Be My Baby oozed sex…Ronnie’s voice- it sounded almost lubricated. It’s got that smell to it, like sweat and garlic” (O’Brien, 73) In Selling an Image: Girl Groups of the 1960’s Cyrus discussed how the appearances of these girl groups were more important and attracted producers more than the music itself- “Phil was taken first by their appearances- they wore heavy makeup, tight dresses and all had matching hairdos piled high on their heads; he quickly decided that he wanted to record them, and it was only later on when he heard them sing that he was surprised at how good they sounded” (Cyrus, 179)
Critics perpetuate the stereotype that these 60’s girl group bands were not creating substantial music, and that they were part of the youth culture and a culture that valued female band members’ appearances over their music. After contemporary bands like Best Coast and The Dum Dum Girls moved away from the 60’s girl group and surf influences, the music-reviewing site Pitchfork applauded their music. One critic discussed The Dum Dum Girl’s follow up album to the debut: Only in Dreams, “the second Dum Dum Girls album seethes with a beautiful, raging confidence, louder and fuller than anything they’ve done before,” and “This is the girl-group revival growing up, standing taller and insisting on living in the now” (Zoladz, Carmanica). Both of these comments suggest that the critics did not understand the value to referencing girl-group music in contemporary music. One critic criticizes others who call the girl-group revival music simple and unintelligent lyrically: “But it’s easy to miss that, just as these songs are relatively basic in construction, She’s (Beth Cosentino, Best Coast’s lead singer) never aimed for any sort of lyrical grandiosity- just feelings, presented as straightforwardly as possible” (Fitzmaurice).
This is what girl groups from the 60’s seemed to be doing with their music as well. They wanted to relate to their audience members through simple, everyday feelings that everyone encounters. But, perhaps the critique that girl group revival bands’ music was too youthful and simple in nature was part of the reason why the distinct 60’s quality to the bands’ sounds dissolved so quickly. As the musicians progressed toward different musical endeavors, writers reflected back on their debut albums as if they were merely part of a trend, and that these groups had always been en route to a loftier sound. Jon Carmanica from the New York Times stated about The Dum Dum Girls’ first album, “It was of the moment when pilfering from the 1960’s and sounding good while doing so was enough” (Carmanica).
As the 60’s girl group influences were filtered out of groups like Best Coast and The Dum Dum Girls, The Sweet Pups formed in Seattle and made explicit references to 60’s girl group music and surf music from the 60’s. Was it too late for them to start playing 60’s-inspired music when other girl-group and surf revival bands were moving their sound away from 60’s girl-pop music? Although The Sweet Pups are reminiscent of both girl-pop groups from the 60’s as well as contemporary girl-group revival bands, their sound is distinct. Best Coast and The Dum Dum Girls made music that very well could have been from the 60’s; lyrically and thematically, their songs were similar to the 60’s bands. They sang simple lyrics and wrote songs about heartbreak. In Best Coast’s song “Boyfriend,” Cosentino sings, “She’s not like me, she’s prettier and skinnier…I wish he was my boyfriend.” Aside from lyrics that were similar to lines from 60’s pop songs, these bands recorded their songs in a manner that gave them a “lo-fi,” or old sound, seemingly to make the songs sound more authentically 60’s in nature.
Perhaps putting such great effort into imitating the sound of girl-group bands was part of the reason why they did not dwell long in 60’s girl-group influences for their music. Bands like Best Coast and The Dum Dum Girls were imitating their predecessors so closely that they were not doing anything truly innovative with their music. So, in the case of the Dum Dum Girls, and their new album Only In Dreams, the pop quality of the 60’s girl group music is still apparent, but the surf, lo-fi quality to music is no longer prominent, and the music cannot be traced back a different era; their music is more contemporary in sound. It appears that they are trying to eliminate any references to 60’s music genre (Zoladz).
The Sweet Pups, on the other hand, did not start out imitating the 60’s sound, as The Dum Dum Girls and Best Coast did. They still explicitly reference surf and girl-group sounds from the 60’s, but they approach these influences with irony, and they incorporate other musical influences into their sound as well. They utilize techniques that the 60’s groups initiated, like the call and response technique, but they approach these techniques in a unique way; their sound is sassier and grittier than that of the 60’s girl groups. They snarl some of their lines, and although their songs carry themes similar to 60’s pop songs, like heartbreak and boys, the lead singer’s tone is not as innocent and sanguinely sweet as the voices from the 60’s. Even the contemporary leader singer from Best Coast, Cosentino sounds vulnerable and fragile in her songs about relationships. The Sweet Pups sing about these themes, but they are more confrontational and aggressive, and do not passively accept heartbreak. Lead singer Priscilla croons, “If you da-da-da-don’t look my way/I won’t be so nice.” And, in the call and response portion of the same song, “The Park,” Priscilla’s band mates convince her that she is much better than the man she is pursuing. One calls out, “He seems like a creep to me!” while another says, “Don’t wait around too long.”
As a listener, the surf and 60’s pop overtones in The Sweet Pup’s music are recognizable and catchy. The fact that these songs poke fun at 60’s pop bands, including the women’s dependence on men, and debilitation from heartbreak, the Sweet Pups seem to be writing music that is more progressive and intelligent than music from contemporary bands like Best Coast. Best Coast’s lead singer seems to perpetuate stereotypes about feminine fragility and females’ emotional instability by crooning about her own incompetence, “She’s not like me/She’s prettier and skinnier.”
And, Sweet Pup’s influences seem so be more diverse than the other girl-fronted bands that have surfaced more recently, which makes their music more substantial and attractive to a broader audience- the band members cited artists from glam rock singer Gary Glitter to more garage/punk/pop groups like The Pandoras as musical influences. When they mentioned surf and girl groups from the 60's, they indicated that the musical techniques from these groups, like surf guitar parts were important to their band's development and that the solidarity among the 60’s girl group band members and their female audience was crucial. But, they noted that tougher girl groups who demanded a presence, and wrote their own music were much more influential to them. They even mentioned that The Bangles, The Go Go's and The Pandoras, all bands who came onto the music scene in the 80's and 90's and utilized techniques from girl groups and surf rock from the 60's, were more influential to them that 60's groups themselves. It is important that they recognized the significance of the 60’s girl groups who created a movement that women of the time could identify with and that they re-create the 60’s sounds with a sense of confidence and aggressiveness rather than with vulnerability, like Best Coast.
The Sweet Pup’s music is inspiring to audience members because they are confident and confrontational- they wield a strong feminine presence. This sort of positive femininity is important in the current climate, as women are demanding social equality, and feminism is on the rise. In the Pacific Northwest music scene in particular, the Sweet Pup’s music will likely prove to be valuable, as 60’s girl group and surf-inspired music is not common in the area. Surf music from the 60’s, including music from bands like The Beach Boys, hailed from California where beaches and warm weather likely inspired the music; whereas, the Pacific Northwest, with it gray, cool climate is not known for its beach scene, nor for its commercial surfing culture. It should be noted that there is a surf culture in the Northwest, but true to form it is tougher and grittier. The Sweet Pups add a distinctly Pacific Northwest quality to their music. Their confrontational nature as female musicians seems to be derived from the Pacific Northwest’s Riot Grrrl movement from the early 90’s. These musicians united against a patriarchal society and formed a movement that provided a sense of unity among female musicians, and females in general. Aside from the Riot Grrrl scene, the Sweet Pups music can also be associated with the garage rock movement that took place in the Pacific Northwest during the 60’s, with groups like The Sonics or The Wailers. So, The Sweet Pups can be linked to movements in the Pacific Northwest like the Riot Grrrl scene, or the 60’s garage rock movement, but they bring a unique quality to the music scene, including influences such as glam rock, punk music, and most noticeably surf and girl group music.
The band is also distinct in their manner of dress and stage presence. Unlike the 60’s girl groups who choreographed dance routines, and wore matching outfits, the Sweet Pups are more eclectic in the way that they dress. And, their stage presence is similar to the 60’s garage bands and the 90’s Riot Grrrl bands. There is an edgier quality to their stage presence; the songs are not played flawlessly, and each performer has a unique playing personality. This edgy stage presence characterizes them as a progressive female band that has a distinct Pacific Northwest vibe.
The Sweet Pup’s diverse sound would lend itself well to a Pacific Northwest-oriented archive or music collection. Since their surf sound seems to be unique to the Pacific Northwest music scene, it would be interesting to seek out other local bands that have been influenced by surf music as well. Since there do not seem to be many surf group-influenced bands hailing from the Seattle area, documenting their takes on the 60’s surf/girl group music scene, in comparison to The Sweet Pup’s, would be an interesting study.
Thoughts on Organizing a Pacific Northwest Archive
Based Around 60’s Girl Group/Surf Music in Seattle:
The Sweet Pups are a unique sound from the Pacific Northwest, but there are surely other bands that have been influenced by surf and girl groups from the 60’s in the Seattle area as well. The Sweet Pups mentioned that The Night Beats are another band from the Seattle area that has surf undertones to their music. And, since the Seattle music scene is so diverse, there are likely other bands from the area that have a similar sound.
The documentation process for these bands should be done through the University of Washington academic institution. Grouping all of this music together might provide for easier access to the music by the bands’ themselves. In the article “Rights, Intellectual Property and Archives,” the writer says, “After giving their own material to the archives, they are unable to access it, resulting in delays, repeated trips at the cost of much time and money, loss of publication opportunity and so on, including being expected to wait in queue to access their own material [at the archive]” (73). Perhaps to avoid any questions about unwanted access to their music, the University should set up a system similar to how The Crocodile Collection is currently organized, where streaming the videos and audio recordings is only possible within the library setting. But, if this is not a concern for the bands, perhaps all students could have access to the music through their UW library accounts, and have the ability to view and reference the material from wherever.
By allowing a higher institution like the University of Washington to have access to these musicians’ musical material, the University needs to be given copyright access to the music, so that they can post the recordings on the UW library’s online website, as well as use the recordings in applicable academic settings for educational purposes. The writer of “Rights, Intellectual Property and Archives” says, “There is always a time limit on copyright and that is the key thing to remember” (77). So, I think it would be important to remind musicians that the copyright agreement can be altered and adjusted after a time, and the music can be removed from the archive if the bands do not feel that their music is being used in a manner that they support.
Cultivating this intimate relationship between the archives and the surf/60s girl-group revival groups from the Seattle area is an important step toward creating an understanding and trusting dialogue between the two entities. The archives should prepare an advocacy statement that expresses their intent to preserve and document the Seattle surf and girl-pop music scenes. By illustrating that they understand how unique surf music is to the Pacific Northwest music scene, and by showing that they understand that bands like The Sweet Pups have also been influenced by the Riot Grrrl scene and the PNW garage rock scene from the 60’s, they will gain the band’s trust. The band members would be more likely to allow the university to have access to their music if this understanding and personal connection is made between archive staff and the band members. Additionally, if individual members of the archive team reach out to the performers by attending their shows and revealing an individual face behind the anonymous bureaucratic nature of the university, a trusting relationship will be more likely to prosper.
In terms of preserving the recordings that will result from the relationship between the university’s archiving personnel and the contributing bands, online preservation seems to be the most universal, long lasting method. Having a physical backup recording might be an additional safeguard, since there is always the possibility that the computer system could breakdown, and the material could be instantly lost. But, preserving the recordings online, possibly through live streaming, seems to be the most lasting option. The writer of “Archives and the Future” discusses how most physical media becomes obsolete after a short period, and the physical media playing equipment changes so frequently that an online collection of the recordings might be the most cost-effective and lasting option for preservation, despite the heightened concerns that may be posed about the danger of posting the recordings online due to copyright concerns and the danger of illegal usage of the media (3).
Beyond thinking about the logistical concerns involved in adding the musical recordings to the University’s collection, the administrators of the archive need to be motivated to include the surf/girl-group revival bands in the archive. Proponents for the bands’ inclusion in the archive should emphasize the unique, unprecedented quality of surf/girl-group bands in the Seattle area, while also emphasizing that the bands have a distinctly Pacific Northwest take on beach music that would be valuable to the University’s archive- particularly given that the University is a Pacific Northwest institution.
(Fig. #1) The Ronettes Album Cover
(http://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/the_ronettes/born_to_be_together___blues_for_baby/)
(Fig. #2) Paul Poiret- Dress without Corset (early 1900’s (http://dvisible.com/2007/11/14/fashion-revolutionary-paul-poiret-and-the-introduction-of-the-elegant-tomboy/)
(Fig. #3) Christian Dior’s “Bar Suit” 1947
http://awhitecarousel.com/tag/christian-dior/
Works Sited:
"Archives and the Future." In Archives for the Future: Global Perspectives on Audiovisual Archives in the 21st Century (2004): http://seagullindia.com/archive/chapter01.pdf
"Album Review- Dum Dum Girls." NME. NME First For Music News, 20 Sept 2011. Web. 20 May 2012. <http://www.nme.com/reviews/dum-dum-girls/12322>.
'Brien, Lucy. She Bop. new York: Penguin Books, 1995.
Caramanica, Jon. "New Album by Dum Dum Girls and The Bangles." New York Times [New York City] 03 Oct 2011, n. pag. Online
Cooper, Sarah. Girls! Girls! Girls!. New York: New York University Press, 1996.
Cyrus, Cynthia. "Selling An Image: Girl Groups of the 1960's." Popular Music. 22.2 (2003): 173-193. Online.
Fitzmaurice, Larry. "Best Coast: Crazy For You." Pitchfork. N.p., 27 July 2010. Web. 20 May 2012. <http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14472-crazy-for-you/>.
Gaylard, Susan. "20th Century Fashion." University of Washington, Seattle. May 9/16. Lecture.
"Rights, Intellectual Property and Archives Today." In Archives for the Future: Global Perspectives on Audiovisual Archives in the 21st Century (2004): http://seagullindia.com/archive/chapter03.pdf
Zoladz, Lindsay. "Dum Dum Girls- Only In Dreams." Pitchfork. N.p., 28 Sept. 2011. Web. 20 May 2012. <http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15851-dum-dum-girls-only-in-dreams/>.