CLOSING THOUGHTS

And just like that it faded away, Britpop became as voguish as synth-pop was in 1992. The period soared to the highest heights, but to repurpose a quote from the film 24 Hour Party People, “I’ll say one word, Icarus. If you get it, great. If you don’t, that’s okay too, but you should probably read more.” Britpop eventually gave way to the more musically complex bands such as Radiohead and to a lesser extent, Muse. The UK would not experience a phenomenon as awe inspiring again. The recently christened, Indie Sleaze era of 2004-2012ish, barely holding a torch to the flame of Britpop. Who can blame it? With the widespread use of the internet and the instantaneous access to music, the sounds that reached the nations ears was not as finely curated as that of yesteryear. Was Britpop real? That’s a recurring question that came up in this zine and my honest opinion is yes it was. Those big four bands knew what they were doing, especially in the case of Suede, Blur and Pulp who all ended up evolving their music. This made it seem like a conceited effort by these artists to truly change the industry and although they never received mainstream US success, managed to shift the focus back to homegrown music, at least in the UK. It does hurt my heart to say that Oasis never really embraced change and although that’s why they were the last of the big four to split, it hampers the argument of Britpop being a conceited effort by bands to change the industry.

I asked all my interviewees the same run of short questions and I think its only fair if I also give them a shot. So here is, the Britpop insight no one asked for: