Britpop

Britpop is a British alternative rock movement from the mid 1990s, characterised with the appearance of bands who borrowed many influences from 1960s and 1970s while creating big and catchy hooks, as well as the glamour of earlier pop stardom and the sense that they were creating the soundtrack to the lives of a new generation of British youth. Although incredibly popular from about 1994-1996, it has been criticised for its lack of innovation.

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The movement developed as a reaction against various musical trends in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Acid house and the rise of Hip hop had led to an interest in more groove, rhythm led songs in British pop music: the classic example here, of course, was the Happy Mondays. In the wake of these revolutions, classic guitar music floundered. The shoegazing movement in the late '80s responded by producing long, psychedelic, repetitive songs, strongly influenced by My Bloody Valentine but as the name suggests, live performances tended to be exercises in endurance. After this there was a short, but crucial movement termed the "New Wave of New Wave", which produced mainly derivative bands but which was crucial in re-orientating British pop towards "classic" songwriting.

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The key "anti-influence" on the Britpop was Grunge. In the wake of the American invasion led by Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, British acts were thrown on the defensive. Americans threw down the gauntlet, and British acts now had to prove they were in the same league musically.

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