If you've never heard of britpop before reading this, chances are you probably just think it's British pop. In some ways you aren't wrong, but britpop specifically refers to a period in the 90s where a certain type of guitar rock and attitude dominated the British charts. It's hard to label it anything but britpop, but I guess you could say its easily accessible rock songs made to dance to. There's also a sort of class divide and a political sense to some of the songs, but it's usually hidden in the lyrics. Again, this all happened in Britain. In the U.S., most people were interested in grunge (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc.) or industrial stuff. Me? My mom was obsessed with britpop/ British music in general in high school. I grew up on britpop and other British bands, like The Cure, Erasure, The Verve, etc. Not saying I'm an expert on britpop, but I can explain the basics. I'm gonna talk a little bit about the beginning and the history of britpop and then I'll start getting into the music behind it.
It's still debated when exactly britpop started, but the band who kickstarted it all was agreed upon: Suede. Or, the London Suede here in the U.S. Suede's vocalist, Brett Anderson, immediately endeared himself to critics and fans alike after Suede's debut album was released in 1993. It became the fastest selling record in the U.K. Many people were looking for another band to "latch on" to after the breakup of The Smiths in 1987. So, in a sense, britpop was the continuation of the jangle-pop genre that The Smiths pioneered. Of course, there were more genres mixed in with its influences like different types of rock from the 60s-80s and even some shoegaze. The album featured lyrics referencing political statements and purely British mannerisms with catchy hooks that weren't too abrasive. This is in contrast to the grunge movement happening in the U.S. where almost all the music was abrasive and the lyrics were much darker. Of course Suede were really the ones who kickstarted the genre, but there were many bands doing the same thing before Suede with varying levels of success. Pulp released 3 albums already and was working on their 4th, Blur had released 2 albums and were working on their third, and Oasis were just starting their debut. Notice how these three hugely important bands were working on a new album roughly around the same time. This culminated in 1994 being huge for britpop. First, "britpop" started becoming a commonplace word used widely around the U.K. Second, there was a war brewing. Blur vs. Oasis. I think I talked about this briefly in my last post, but the basic gist is that Blur vs. Oasis was just another north vs. south argument, with Oasis being this "scrappy" band that came from the south and Blur being these "rich" boys from the north. I'll add a video near the end of this section if you're interested, it's really fascinating seeing the north vs. south argument being revived in the form of boys in rock bands. Third, three albums from three bands that defined the britpop movement. "His 'n' Hers" by Pulp was not that commercially successful compared to their other albums , but I really liked it since it wasn't completely britpop and it wasn't completely rock either. Next was Oasis' debut: "Definitely Maybe". This broke Suede's record for the fastest selling record in the U.K. and really cemented the britpop genre in U.K. history. And then there was "Parklife" by Blur. THIS is the record that showed what britpop was all about: the working middle class. It made people proud to be British while also being relatable for most of the people who lived in Britain. Here's the music video for the lead single "Parklife":
This was huge. All three of these bands knew they were onto something that 1: could change the music industry in Britain and 2: make them loads of money.
The next year was more focused on the Blur vs. Oasis war. A major "battle" happened between the two bands in 1995. Oasis was just about to release their lead single from their upcoming album "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?". But then, Blur decides to release THEIR lead single from THEIR upcoming album "The Great Escape" on the SAME DAY as the Oasis single. Blur narrowly won the "battle", with their single "Country House" selling 274,000 copies while Oasis' single "Roll with It" only sold 216,000 copies. This was a double-edged sword however, with Oasis gaining more media coverage than they ever could have generated on their own. After the "battle", the next year and a half were still huge for Britpop. Pulp released their album "Different Class" in 1995 and it contained the single "Common People", which became the de facto "British anthem" and for some people it still is. The Verve came onto the scene in 1997 with their album "Urban Hymns" which contained the song "Bittersweet Symphony" which was a smash hit. An interesting thing to note was that Radiohead also released their second album "The Bends" and they were not interested in britpop or even IN the britpop scene. But somehow, people labelled the album under the britpop genre even though it was more grunge-like. But, all good things come to an end. In 1997, Oasis released the album "Be Here Now", and was severely underwhelming to critics. Blur released their self-titled as well, but shocked everybody when it was more American grunge and lo-fi influenced, seemingly leaving Britpop behind. On top of the declining output of Blur and Oasis, other bands seemed to top the charts instead, with Coldplay being the best example. Bands like Pulp, Suede, The Verve, and Elastica inevitably faded away, but they took their fans with them. And then by the early 2000s, britpop was declared "dead". Blur continued making albums, but they kept including new features and deeper lyricism to keep themselves sounding fresh. A fun fact that not many people know about is that the lead singer of Blur, Damon Albarn, went on to make Gorillaz, which has evolved into a full-fledged band instead of a side-project. Oasis broke up officially in 2009, but the two brothers in the band, Noel and Liam Gallagher constantly fought and one of them even said they hated the other. Pulp broke up in 2003, but their output was consistent and I regard them as my favorite britpop band even though the lead singer, Jarvis Cocker, said he wanted nothing to do with Britpop. I called britpop a genre in this paragraph many times, but it was more of a cultural era and feeling than a genre.
(Sidenote: if you're interested in a better explanation of the Blur vs. Oasis war than mine because mine was really short and stupid, I highly recommend this video:
Let's finally talk about the music. I love britpop. I really do. I just think it's such an interesting period and you can really hear the enthusiasm and passion put into some of these songs. A bit of a warning: I don't really like Oasis' music. If you really want to listen to them I recommend the album "(What's the story) Morning Glory?" since that has "Wonderwall" and "Champagne Supernova" on it. But yeah I'm not a huge fan of Oasis. I'll try to share some songs that I think are easily accessible for anybody new to the genre. I'l order it chronologically too so you can kinda understand what I was saying during the history lecture I just typed.
"Animal Nitrate" - Suede (Suede)
Personally, I love this song. But I'm gonna say right now that this is not a "first listen favorite" song, so I would revisit this guy after you see what else britpop has to offer. But yeah, this is the lead single off of Suede's debut, which kickstarted britpop. It's very angsty(?) at the beginning but you can clearly hear the glam/jangle-pop influence on the main riff. The chorus is catchy, but Anderson's voice might seem whiny to some people. His voice is really unique since it goes into a high register for most of this song, but it doesn't seem to come back down. Personally, his voice grew on me and I think it will on you too. The only thing i don't really like is that the lyrics are very basic and don't offer the insight into British culture or the political references, but that's more of a personal thing than an actual problem within the song. Check this song out if you want to hear the influence of other types of rock on britpop.
"Common People" - Different Class (Pulp)
This, in my opinion, is the crux of what britpop is all about. Witty lyrics, catchy melody, amazing chorus, it's got it all. If you take away one song from this blog post, let it be this one. The story being told in this song is of a rich girl trying to blend in with the working class people of Britain (specifically Sheffield). Some of the highlight lyrics for me are:
"I said pretend you've got no money/ And she just laughed and said "Ha, you're so funny"/ I said "Yeah, well I can't see anyone else smiling here""
"You will never understand how it feels to live your life/ With no meaning or control/ And with nowhere left to go/ You are amazed that they exist/ And they burn so bright whilst you can only wonder why"
"Rent a flat above a shop/ Cut your hair and get a job/ Smoke some fags and play some pool/ Pretend you never went to school/ But still you'll never get right"
Not many singers include jokes or even direct insults in their songs nowadays, it just shows the clear difference between the different classes (get it that's why they named the album "Different Class" haha that's so funny) in Britain at the time. I think it's a really insightful song, but at the same time I just want to dance to it. I can't recommend this song enough.
"Charmless Man" - The Great Escape (Blur)
I think this is the catchiest song in britpop. Such a simple riff, witty lyrics (a staple of britpop at this point) , and I especially like the piano at the beginning and the background vocals around the chorus. This song is like "Common People", but it talks about one single upper class man. Here's my faves:
"Educated the expensive way/ He knows his Claret from his Beaujolais/ I think he'd like to have been Ronnie Kray/ But then nature didn't make him that way"
"Those family shares will protect him/ That we'll respect him"
"He moves in circles of friends/ Who just pretend that they like him/ He does the same to them/ And when you put it all together/ There's the model of a charmless man"
This song is a direct insult to the upper class, and I can't blame them. The "na na na nas" throughout the chorus and around the song can be a bit obnoxious, but I think they make the song even more catchy than it already is.
So that was britpop right? Almost. Some new British acts are extremely similar to britpop as well as jangle-pop. One of my favorites is this band called Parliamo: they have around 3,000 Spotify listeners and they've been hailed as "One of Scotland's most exciting prospects" and I just think the blend of britpop they've created is awesome. Here's my fave:
But yeah, britpop as an era can be considered dead, but the music definitely is alive and well.
I've made a playlist of my favorite britpop songs if you wanna hear more, but the three songs I've wrote about are fantastic starting points that you can branch off from.
Thanks for reading!
(P.S. The cover photo I used is a pic of Jarvis Cocker and Noel Gallagher having a smoke, I just think it's symbolic of britpop as a whole)
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