New Britannia

The origins of Britpop have been much debated; some say it was birthed into life around 1993 when Brett Anderson of Suede was featured on the cover of Select Magazine with a Union flag in the background, the same time as the release of Blur’s anglocentric British social treatise ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’.

Although these moments in time both signalled major developments in the Cool Britannia movement, nobody can doubt that it was the release of Blur’s ‘Parklife’ that truly catapulted the movement into the forefront of mass media. April 24, 2014, marks the twentieth anniversary of the album’s release and the Britpop circle’s triumphant recovery of their musical heritage. Just recently there was talk of a Britpop reunion episode on ITV2’s documentary series ‘The Big Reunion’ and indeed, the time is ripe for such a thing. Then again, we all saw how well Blur’s reunion at Big Day Out worked out…

Since the brief few years in which Britpop was king there has been a notable absence of simple guitar led British pop music in the music industry. There may have been bands such as Snow Patrol, Coldplay, Travis and Elbow who emerged after the dissolution of Britpop with certain British characteristics to their music, but there was also an overriding American indie influence to these bands that prevented them from truly symbolising British culture. In any case, these bands will likely be remembered as commercial pop drivel as opposed to their legendary predecessors from the Madchester movement and 90’s Britpop. The Arctic Monkeys now stand at the forefront of popular music as perhaps one of the only major acts representing whatever fragments are left of Britpop, but they too have betrayed much of their original British aesthetic. The popularity of acts like Alt J, London Grammar and Chvrches even more so signifies distance from the guitar-led 60s influenced sound of Britpop.

Although there are no major signs of this changing anytime soon, it is Australia’s DMA’s that are the first new kids on the block in a long time representing a true revival of Britpop. DMA’s popped out of seemingly nowhere earlier this year and were signed to DZ Deahtrays and Violent Soho’s label I OH YOU after only releasing one song: an emotional acoustic track called ‘Delete’. Although the song was simple in style, it has an undoubtable feeling of freshness to it, perhaps, because it is so simple. What truly made the song stand out was the Oasis-esque rising climax, the even more Manchester reminiscent video clip featuring the trio in track jackets, and the layers of shoegaze underpinning the whole package.

DMA’s were far from I OH YOU’s grungy party-dog image and it certainly got people’s attention. Their second track ‘Feels Like 37’ even more so recalls the sounds of mid nineties Britpop, with familiar Liam Gallagher-like drawling vocals. The band’s debut EP will be out March 28, followed by an East Coast tour that will see the guys hitting up Brisbane’s Black Bear Lodge on Friday, March 30. The band may hark from Australia’s Sydney as opposed to, well, Great Britain, but there is no doubt DMA’s are one of the first bands in recent times recalling the sounds of Britpop with style and flair, and people are certainly listening.

But perhaps instead of another British invasion of guitar-led pop rock anytime soon, there will be a new kind of ‘Britpop’ finding its place in the world.  The success of the electronic influenced British groups I mentioned cannot not be ignored and nor should it be, as these bands are fantastic contributions to the current music landscape. Even though their sound does not exactly recall the traditions of their British heritage, there is a distinct British branding present with heavily accented British vocals. This Friday will mark Australia’s first encounter with one of these experimental electronic British groups as Glass Animals play The Hi-Fi on Friday, April 4. Although the band do not really recall any Blur, Oasis or Pulp in their eclectic sound, there is certainly remnants of British triphop groups like Massive Attack and Portishead.

In May, London’s Temples will also visit Australia for the first time, a band who perhaps have more in common with their Britpop ancestors. There is little that is distinctly British about Temples, although their psychedelic sounds do recall Rubber Soul and Sgt Pepper’s era Beatles, The Byrds, and T-Rex. But maybe it is Temples’ label mates Toy or Charlie Boyer and The Voyeurs who more obviously embrace a British aesthetic. Toy may lean heavily toward Germany’s krautrock sounds, but they do share Temples’ British psychedelia influences, as well as incorporating the pre-Britpop 90s shoegaze styles into their sound, a movement that bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and Lush embodied. Nevertheless, Toy’s sound, like many of their English neo-psychedelia contemporaries, derives from a far more nuanced worldwide collection of influences, and indeed, it is a movement that spans countries and continents. Charlie Boyer’s sound on the other-hand is unmistakably British, with distinct shades of Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry glam rock. On the other hand, the group also have strong strokes of American late 70s rock music like Television, The Modern Lovers and Suicide.

Maybe there is no longer a place for Britpop, with music becoming far more nuanced and layered as bands consume influences from all over the world much more easily with the Internet at their fingertips. Music scenes are now crossing continents as a result of easier access to music and because of more interaction between bands on different sides of the globe. And maybe this is a good thing for the music industry, as more interconnectivity and collaboration can only produce stronger and more dynamic results, as we have seen with the recent wave of electronic music. But with any strong musical movement there will always be an anti-movement, which is precisely how Britpop started in the first place, as the antithesis to America’s grunge scene. And indeed, it would be great to see another golden time when British bands like The Beatles, The Stone Roses and Oasis rule the world once again, even if it’s just for a little while.


Published by AAA Backstage.