What GRRRRRREAT suggestions. I think part of my problem is… not enough cuteness in my life.
Off to find some of these ablums,
d i g s
Arling & Cameron, especially All-In and We Are A&C. Their stuff is a blast.
Shonen Knife!
Shonen Knife!
Shonen Knife!
Come on, they wrote a song for the Powerpuff Girls. It gets no cuter than that!
For further Japanese cuteness I recommend the Sushi 2002/3003 compilations, full of kawaii Japanese lounge-kitsch clubpop, featuring artists like Kahimi Karie (who must be the queen of cuteness–sample song title: “I Am A Kitten”) and Fantastic Plastic Machine, who are similar to Pizzicato 5 (who are also included, of course).
I don’t know if it goes far enough into the “cute” territory, but for the sparkle and fizz, may I suggest:
Beulah: The Coast is Never Clear (aaahhh, this CD is soooo good!)
Apples in Stereo: Discovery of a World Inside the Moon
The Shins: Oh, Inverted World
Some of Ben Kweller’s stuff is cute, and you may enjoy it. Try “Sha Sha” (also the title of his major-label debut).
The Apples in stereo. Pure bubblegum, fun for everyone. And very, very cute. I just picked up their latest album Velocity of Sound yesterday, but since I also bought Elephant by the White Stripes, I haven’t given it much of a listen. Some of the Apples’ best songs include “Glowworm,” “Tidal Wave,” “Dots 1-2-3,” and “Ruby.”
One of my very favorite bands is The Television Personalities. Their stuff is harder to find, at least in the US. Late '70s and 80s, with lots of name-dropping and cultural references, and very catchy, very sing-a-longy, and very British. My personal favorites are “Part Time Punks” (their biggest hit), “La Grande Illusion,” “This Angry Silence,” and “And Don’t the Kids Just Love It.”
I (fourth?) Shonen Knife
The Apples in stereo. Pure bubblegum, fun for everyone. And very, very cute. I just picked up their latest album Velocity of Sound yesterday, but since I also bought Elephant by the White Stripes, I haven’t given it much of a listen. Some of the Apples’ best songs include “Glowworm,” “Tidal Wave,” “Dots 1-2-3,” and “Ruby.”
One of my very favorite bands is The Television Personalities. Their stuff is harder to find, at least in the US. Late '70s and 80s, with lots of name-dropping and cultural references, and very catchy, very sing-a-longy, and very British. My personal favorites are “Part Time Punks” (their biggest hit), “La Grande Illusion,” “This Angry Silence,” and “And Don’t the Kids Just Love It.”
I (fourth?) Shonen Knife and Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers. Although, you may also want to check out their first album back when they were known only as the Modern Lovers. It’s not as cutesy as Jonathan Richman’s later stuff, but rocks more while still being cute. The Violent Femmes took a lot of inspiration from the Modern Lovers for their own first album.
Sorry about that weird double post thing going on.
It looks as though fizgig and I recommended the Apples simultaneously.
There’s a lot of Japanese bands being posted… Not surprising, really.
Shonen Knife is a good one. (For sheer cuteness, I think I Am a Cat, and I’m a Supergirl are the best examples.)
I’ll add Puffy (AKA PuffyAmiYumi).
I think the cutest Shonen Knife song is the one (can’t remember the name) that goes “You don’t have to be serious, you don’t have to be the walrus”. For their incredibly cute attempt to pronounce “walrus” if nothing else.
There are a lot of good indie pop bands out of Japan that don’t trade on cute… I’ve been loving every Sugar Plant record I get this past few months, especially “After After Hours” and “Dryfruit.”
So what’s the word, gex gex?
One more vote for the Pizzicato Five here.
I’m more of a jazz/Neil Young fan myself, but there’s ONE cute band I like: Dressy Bessy. As far as “cute” bubblegum pop goes, they’re actually pretty good, and the tunes are catchy as hell. I listen to them when Neil Young begins to sound too whiny.
Here’s their website.
Hey all, sorry about the lack of replying - I was in Sydney yesterday and haven’t been near a computer.
And thanks for all the replies! I wasn’t expecting such a huge response - I figured that there would be very few people in to what I was after. But, I’ve got a huge list to look into, and I shall overdose on joyous sugary sweet pop.
Yeah, I’m Australian so I know (and quite enjoy) Spiderbait. I’m thinking I’ll have to go listen to all my old Spiderbait tapes, cuz they are pretty much what I’m after.
Cartman are pretty cool, but I never saw them as really cute. But Drive and Shock are great songs. Then again, nearly everything out of WA is great at the moment - Cartman, The Sleepy Jackson, The Fergusons, Downsyde. It’s like the new Brisbane… or something.
And along Australian lines, I’m going to mention (just in case anyone else is interested) Darren Hanlon, because his stuff is cute and I’d forgotten all about him.
But, thanks again, y’all, there’s a heap of bands here that I’ve been meaning to get into for a while (Shonen Knife, Apples in Stereo, Pizzicato Five, other Sarah Records stuff).
Keep 'em coming, and have a cute day!
I’m even thinking… yes… Mix CD!
Re: Cartman - fair enough. I guess I’m thinking of some of their non-singles, which usually have great harmonies, and I always think harmonies up the cute factor.
And yeah, Perth is doing really well at the moment - (although I can’t stand Downsyde, I’m glad they’re doing well, I suppose). You might want to check out Halogen for another good Perth band doing ok nationally at the moment. The lead singer is a cute Asian gal - not quite the sort of cute you were asking about, but hey… 
Dressy Bessy - Their album “Pink Hearts Yellow Moons” is possibly the definition of catchy cutesy indie bubble gum pop. There ain’t a song on this record that won’t make you smile.
Tiger Trap - more twee pop, would also give Shonen Knife a good run for their money as paragons of indie cuteness. I mean, their name is a reference to a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, how much cuter can you get? Unfortunately, TT have only one LP release, a self-titled record, plus a couple EPs. Rose Melberg, of TT, went on to record with Go Sailor! and the Softies.
Stereo Total - This Berlin-based duo are more electro-oriented than the ones I’ve mentioned, but a lot of lo-fi fun. Their newest record, “Musique Automatique” is OK, but I’d recommend trying to dig out “My Melody”, or going to their website and downloading their B-sides.
Redd Kross - Try the album “Third Eye.” With songs titled “Shonen Knife” and “Bubble Gum Factory” it may just do the trick, although this album isn’t as uniformly cute as the others I mentioned (especially Dressy Bessy and Tiger Trap)
Oh, and if you do like DB or TP, you can also check out Cub
Last line should read:
if you do like DB or TT …
There’s a Cub fan in Budapest! How on earth did that happen? I used to live in Seattle and I barely heard of them. I did see them once in person, opening for They Might Be Giants, about six months before they broke up. That was a good show. It took a couple years after that to track down all their CDs.
No, I think it’s gotta be Catnip Dream. C’mon, even when they do a drug song, it’s cute.
That’ll be Lazybone. It’s a favourite of mine, too - minimalist 3-chord pop-punk, infectious as SARS :D.
How about The Donnas - they look like refugees from a toothpaste advert, but chop chords like the Ramones.
I’ll have to check out Cartman’s non-album stuff then, cuz I do like their singles.
And, hey, I’m always up for the sort of cute that is a lead-singing-cute-Asian-gal… mmm… lead-singing-cute-Asian-girl.
pulykamell: I love Dressy Bessy just from their name. They sound like just what I’m after.
Well, actually, I am an expatriated American, but I did find out about them while here in Budapest. Somehow or another, somebody turned me on to Dressy Bessy (I think through I Sleater-Kinney fan site) and in turn, Dressy Bessy was linked to Cub. All cool stuff, and I’ve missed it all when I lived in the States. 
Though I must say, much to my surprise, Atom and his Package is coming to play a small club in Budapest. There’s another fun DIY pop musician…he’s a bit more like an indie Weird Al then bubble gum pop, but also worth a listen…I mean, with songs like “If you own the Washington Redskins, You’re A Cock,” you’ve gotta at least check it out.