New Sincerity

New Sincerity is a term that has been used in music, aesthetics, film criticism, poetry, literary criticism and philosophy, generally to describe art or concepts that run against prevailing modes of postmodernist irony or cynicism. Its usage dates back to the mid-1980s.

In music

"New Sincerity" was used as a collective name for a loose group of alternative rock bands, centered in Austin, Texas in the years from about 1985 to 1990, who were perceived as reacting to the ironic outlook of then-prominent music movements like punk rock and new wave. The use of "New Sincerity" in connection with these bands began with an off-handed comment by Austin punk rocker/author Jesse Sublett to his friend, local music writer Margaret Moser. According to author Barry Shank, Sublett said: "All those new sincerity bands, they're crap." Sublett (at his own website) states that he was misquoted, and actually told Moser, "It's all new sincerity to me... It's not my cup of tea." In any event, Moser began using the term in print, and it ended up becoming the catch phrase for these bands.