Twee as Fuck at The Buffalo Bar

Twee as Fuck at The Buffalo Bar

14 October, 2008
by: Katuschka

On the second Friday of each month, when the moon is full; pale, winsome creatures, flit to Highbury and Islington and take sanctuary below The Buffalo Bar, where twee is not just a state of mind, but a lifestyle choice. DJ and founder of the Twee as Fuck night at The Buffalo Bar, Theoretical Girl is like Schindler to girls and boys who want to indulge in 'Love is…' paintings, Rainbow Brite cartoons and free cupcakes (if Hitler is the hardcore scene that is). 

A fanzine, record label and club night which champions The Vivian Girls, The Vaselines, Final Fantasy and Daniel Johnston as well as a host of other alt-rock, funky folk popsters; TAF is a sugary antidote to all those dull indie nights where the DJ has cobbled together NME's hype up of the week and some crowd pleasing Killers hits.   From the moment you walk in the door and a girl in a Holly Hobby style smock stamps a picture of a chick on your hand and gestures to a plate of free cupcakes, you get a warm and fuzzy glow which perseveres until 4AM.

First band of the night is The Noughts and Crosses Band, who are label mates with the supremely twee Pipettes.  They sing sweet, 'cockney sparra' harmonies in a mockney accent which unfortunately makes them sound a little flat, but overall they sound a little like a female Stone Roses, if The Stone Roses wrote about drinking Baileys in the morning.
  
The Bobby McGees proved to be the most enjoyable act of the night with plenty of incomprehensible yet cheeky Scottish charm, 101 Dalmation dresses and catchy comedy songs such as Please don’t let me be Jar Jar Binks, and the adorable No Friends Ivor Cutler, which had the whimsical crowd collectively tilting their heads to one side and sighing.

Glaswegian band Wake the President prove to be not quite as memorable as the other acts (which could be partly due to toffee flavoured vodka shots).  Following the adorable and insuppressible Bobby McGees, their competent, mid-nineties indie was a little too mellow and did nothing to disprove the fact that Belle and Sebastian have set the mould for a lot of Scottish bands.  Despite this, the band are a welcome transition into the more raucous stage of the evening and the long stretch of goofy drunk dancing well into the morning that follows.

Twee as Fuck attracts an amiable crowd who are all intent on having as good a time as possible.  Cute and crazy outfits on guys and girls alike, make for great people watching and if you're on the lookout for a special someone, you can't help but feel the love in the room.  I even spotted some of the elusive Gothic Lolita crowd. 

Yes, it 's vaguely hipster-ish, and there are some who may take it all a bit too seriously, but then again this is a celebration of the quaint and sentimental, and where else but here can you be serious about the fluffy side of life?

To find when your next dose of Twee as Fuck is, you can check out our listing for The Buffalo Bar. They have a whole bunch of other indie nights there too.
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Katuschka