Britpop – A Rock Music of Britain

Britpop is often rendered as British rock, not only because the style originates in Britain but, more importantly, because Britpop itself represents a rise in British cultural consciousness. In the early 1990s, American film, television and music swept Britain, and grunge, from Seattle, was especially popular with young people at the time; many independent bands joined the wave. Grunge's aggressive sound mostly expressed the anxiety and discontent of the young American generation, and two bands from London, Blur and Suede, felt this music had nothing to do with their lives. They set out to write music about British culture, treating it as a response to an incoming foreign culture – and Britpop was born.

As a form of cultural resistance, Britpop naturally inherited from Britain's landmark bands of the past, such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones of the 1960s, or The Smiths and The Stone Roses of the 1980s. Britpop therefore often carries a retrospective or homage-like attitude. The playing is led by guitar, with bass and drums; the arrangements stress melody itself, with little strong rhythm, carrying instead a bright, easy feel, or leaning toward the lyrical. The lyrics mostly reflect British society, culture and life, marking an identification with and pride in one's own culture.

The mid-1990s were Britpop's height, turning the attention of young Britons from grunge to Britpop. Blur and Oasis became the most closely watched bands of the time, and the contest between their album sales was called by the media the “Battle of Britpop”, even dramatised as a north-south rivalry – Britpop's influence therefore extended beyond musical form, and it came to stand for regional culture. Yet the wave faded gradually in the late 1990s, around 1997, as many bands that represented it broke up or abandoned their original style.

Even so, this does not mean that a music so full of British cultural consciousness simply disappeared; it became a kind of nutrient for later British bands. A year or two after the Britpop wave cooled, bands such as Coldplay, Stereophonics and Travis, known as post-Britpop, gradually became a new force in music and one of the mainstream sounds of the 21st century.

Below are a few representative Britpop songs – let them draw you into the Britpop wave once again.

1. Suede – Animal Nitrate (Official Video)

• Blur – Parklife

• Oasis – Don’t Look Back In Anger (Official Video)

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