On a Britpop trip...

Nunogilberto

My secondary school years were during the mid to late 90s, when Britpop was in full swing. At the time I wasn’t really fussed on Blur and Oasis but I remember liking some of the other bands from the era; Cast, Shed Seven, Seahorses, Verve, Dodgy etc.

I’ve always been a rocker first and foremost but recently I’ve gone back and listened to some of the above, particularly Cast and Shed Seven - some great, learnable songs with enough guitar to keep me interested. 

My approach to Oasis and Blur has softened a bit over the years but considering for a while it was all about the those two, with the exception of one or two songs, I’m still not that interested in either band.

Anybody else rediscovered any Britpop bands lately?

DrCornelius

I've played a lot of the later Blur stuff in the car recently , Graham Coxon really is the mutts nuts

AlexC

I go through phases of re-listening to old CDs, usually with some sort of theme. Funnily enough - last week I dug out Sleeper, Elastica, Pulp and Super Furry Animals. And Ash - which I always thought were more punky rock than Britpop anyway. Every UK band with a guitar from that era was called Britpop though, weren’t they!

Danny1969

I like a lot of Britpop, one of the bands I'm in does a lot of it, stuff from Supergrass, Shed 7, Oasis, Ocean Colour scene etc. After the late eighties and early nineties acid dance shit Britpop was a breath of fresh air. 

cpcompany

Listened to Supergrass for the first time in years the other day. Forgot how much I like their first two albums. Seen them live twice and thought they were hopeless though.

Placidcasual79

I was a britpop kid - there was ALOT of sh*te - but also some good stuff. 

The first Bluetones album 'expecting to fly' is really good - a tight band with some melodic songs and some very good guitar playing. 

The Super Furry Animals are hamstrung by their association with britpop - there back catalogue is brilliant - I honestly believe Gruff Rhys is a world class song writer - Lovekraft is a great album, but Radiator is brilliant. 

The first Supergrass is also a good listen in my book. 

Teyeplayer

Same era myself, remember seeing Blur in 1999 despite being more a fan of Oasis/Verve  but recall being really impressed by Coxon’s playing -it made me rethink a lot of my own style.
Suede have always been a another firm favourite as have OCS who I still hold are one of the most underrated UK bands of the last twenty years. Simon’s voice is fantastic and their early work was just so strong in hindsight when compared to a lot of their peers. 

Placidcasual79

Teyeplayer said:

Same era myself, remember seeing Blur in 1999 despite being more a fan of Oasis/Verve  but recall being really impressed by Coxon’s playing -it made me rethink a lot of my own style.
Suede have always been a another firm favourite as have OCS who I still hold are one of the most underrated UK bands of the last twenty years. Simon’s voice is fantastic and their early work was just so strong in hindsight when compared to a lot of their peers. 

Yeah - good shout that - Coxon's playing is really unique, melodic and always in support of the song. 

The Verve are a great band two - McCabe is a really distinctive guitar player. 

I was a huge OCS fan as a 15 year old and saw them in the local music venue before they broke big - very accomplished musicians and a tight band - bit meat and potatoes though.....

Teyeplayer

Placidcasual79 said:

Teyeplayer said:

Same era myself, remember seeing Blur in 1999 despite being more a fan of Oasis/Verve  but recall being really impressed by Coxon’s playing -it made me rethink a lot of my own style.
Suede have always been a another firm favourite as have OCS who I still hold are one of the most underrated UK bands of the last twenty years. Simon’s voice is fantastic and their early work was just so strong in hindsight when compared to a lot of their peers. 

Yeah - good shout that - Coxon's playing is really unique, melodic and always in support of the song. 

The Verve are a great band two - McCabe is a really distinctive guitar player. 

I was a huge OCS fan as a 15 year old and saw them in the local music venue before they broke big - very accomplished musicians and a tight band - bit meat and potatoes though.....

Good call. However in that vein...think of OCS as a good roast dinner, you love a roast dinner, it’s not haute cuisine but it’s damn satisfying. Listen to Mosley Shoals and Marching Already and then revisit Shed7, The Bluetones and Ash -who were all great bands, don’t get me wrong, but no roast dinner!

Placidcasual79

Teyeplayer said:

Placidcasual79 said:

Teyeplayer said:

Same era myself, remember seeing Blur in 1999 despite being more a fan of Oasis/Verve  but recall being really impressed by Coxon’s playing -it made me rethink a lot of my own style.
Suede have always been a another firm favourite as have OCS who I still hold are one of the most underrated UK bands of the last twenty years. Simon’s voice is fantastic and their early work was just so strong in hindsight when compared to a lot of their peers. 

Yeah - good shout that - Coxon's playing is really unique, melodic and always in support of the song. 

The Verve are a great band two - McCabe is a really distinctive guitar player. 

I was a huge OCS fan as a 15 year old and saw them in the local music venue before they broke big - very accomplished musicians and a tight band - bit meat and potatoes though.....

Good call. However in that vein...think of OCS as a good roast dinner, you love a roast dinner, it’s not haute cuisine but it’s damn satisfying. Listen to Mosley Shoals and Marching Already and then revisit Shed7, The Bluetones and Ash -who were all great bands, don’t get me wrong, but no roast dinner!

No no mate - I am with you - I enjoy the roast for what it is...... and its a quality roast with OCS. 

As mentioned elsewhere in this thread I am a big fan of the Bluetones first record - evidently the guitar player is a fan of John Squire but its a fine record - underrated IMO

Freebird

Was this song the beginning of Britpop?

munckee

Bluetones were very good, saw blur the week modern life is rubbish came out in portsmouth, they were very good live, saw them at the Milton Keynes bowl supporting REM years later and didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much.  My brother is in the video for the Drowners as he was in the Suede fan club!  Marion were good, Bennett, never really loved OCS. Elastica were okay Sleeper, Echobelly I've seen a couple of times.

cruxiform

Mansun's Attack Of The Grey Lantern was a great album. Still listen to it from time to time.

duotone

Listen to blur & oasis once in a while, but the one I seem to go back to most is OCS.

Nunogilberto

Good shouts on OCS - some fine tunes they had, saw them supporting the Phonics in 2003. 

Also yeah - Britpop tends to be used to cover a fair range of bands. That also aren’t necessarily pop...

Dopesick

They didn't really fit in with the other Britpop bands but I listened to the first Gomez album for the first time since the early 2000s the other week. Huge waves of nostalgia hit me like a ton of bricks. Awesome record.

munckee

Dopesick said:

They didn't really fit in with the other Britpop bands but I listened to the first Gomez album for the first time since the early 2000s the other week. Huge waves of nostalgia hit me like a ton of bricks. Awesome record.

Watched them live in Portsmouth too, one of the best bands musicianship wise I've ever seen, they all pretty much player every instrument at some point.

Teyeplayer

Gomez, awesome call as were Mansun. It was a great time for guitar bands.

chrisj1602

Quite like a bit of Kula Shaker.  Some good guitar playing on The Seahorses album.

darthed1981

Britpop - or really late 90s indie rock - is still musical home base for me.  All the bands mentioned above really are ones I still love.

For me, the overwhelming characteristic of bands at the time, especially Suede, Pulp and Blur, was to take everyday life and make it sound romantic and exciting, as if being cynical about the world actually added to it's brilliance.

I'm not sure if I've ever based my like or dislike of any band or music on how good the guitar playing is.  Noel G gets bashed all the time, for simple chord progressions and pentatonics, but nothing wrong with either if it can do this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J1zFxRqdx0

My idols from the era are probably Bernard Butler, Graham Coxon, Jonny Greenwood and James Dean Bradfield, would kill to have their chops!

Paul_C