Overlooked but worthy: Britpop Field Guide (part one).

It seems like now when we look back at the Britpop explosion of the mid-late nineties (man, has it really been a decade+ since then?), it's all viewed thru the "OASIS AND BLUR (and maybe Pulp)" lens, considering only the biggest acts with maybe a couple lesser lights thrown in to illustrate how dumb it became (see Kula Shaker, Sleeper, The Seahorses). Even such then-massive acts as Suede tend to fall by the wayside, lost in the tides of time and digital downloads. And while it's probably still a bit early for revisionist histories of the era as a whole, there's plenty of already-forgotten gems in used CD bins (or sitting on amazon for a couple bucks) that are totally worth your time and attention... In fact, in this latest UK-guitarpop-era of Cajun Dance Party and The Wombats and The Last Shadow Puppets, they just might sound better than ever.

Without further ado, the first installment of a quickie field guide to second-string Britpop:

The Charlatans (AKA Charlatans UK). One of those bands whose longevity has actually worked against them, as their cranking out occasionally-worthy records every few years tends to dilute the memory of how great they once were. Their best work came in two albums at the peak of the massive COOL BRITANNIA media saturation; the self-titled record includes key track "Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over" and numerous other highlights, and the follow-up (Tellin' Stories) was even BETTER, full of killer tunes and grooves and spawning three top-ten UK hits. Awesome stuff. (And their follow-up follow-up, "Us And Us Only"? Also totally worth a listen.)



Ocean Colour Scene. Beloved of the Paul Weller/Oasis cognoscenti, these Small Faces devotees from Birmingham have seemingly been around forever. None of their albums are terrible, but 1996's Moseley Shoals is the one to get. A cracking synthesis of britblues stomp and powerpop dynamics, it's chock-full of searing guitar lines and note-perfect songwriting; the one-two-three punch of "Riverboat Song"/"Day We Caught The Train"/"The Circle" right at the top can't be bettered. (Also notable: their rarities comp B-sides, Seasides and Freerides, which contains a slew of other tracks from this era.)


Ride is usually lumped in with the early-90s shoegaze scene, but their last couple albums stretch well outside those textural confines. By 1994's Carnival Of Light they'd stripped away most of the distortion and reverb, and delivered a disc run through with soaring melodies and chiming acoustics. From Andy Bell's rapturous "Crown Of Creation" to Mark Gardner's wistful "From Time To Time", it's a featherweight but lovely little record.


That's part one of my personal roadmap to an era... More to follow shortly.