Top 10 Underrated Britpop Classics That Deserve More Love

Looking Past the Obvious Britpop Anthems

Britpop was a defining movement in music which caused Mod parkas, laddish bucket hats and jaw-grazing sideburns to spread the nation like wildfire. It is the sound of a romantic and energy-blazing Britain before bands were simply X-Factor manufactured — an era we've explored before in our retrospective on The Verve's Urban Hymns. Here are ten tracks that seem to have been washed over by the all-consuming tidal wave of Oasis and Blur. 

The List: 10 Underrated Britpop Classics

10.) Menswear – I’ll Manage Somehow 

A band now skimmed-over in the grand discography of the 90s, Menswear are, like their name infers, supremely stylish in both music and fashion. While dismissed as more of a clothes-horse than a dignified band, this sharp-suited, messy-haired crew were well acquainted with the recipe for a catchy hit, and I’ll Manage Somehow is a perfect example of this. 

9.) Elastica – Vaseline 

Elastica have always been too fiercely relevant to just be a token girl band in some illusive Britpop DEI scheme. Only a minute and a half in its punk compactness, this track burns brightly in their explosive back catalogue. Rioting, reckless and pop-catchy, it shouldn’t simply be skipped on your eager journey to star-of-the-show Connection. 

8.) Sleeper – Delicious 

Exuding nostalgia from every pore, this song thrives on dance-inducing guitars and a bouncing summer bassline, the sexually fuelled lyrics sugar-coated by frontwoman Louise Wener’s undeniable sweetness. This track is without doubt a buried 90s gem ready to be unearthed. 

7.) Mansun – Stripper Vicar 

A neatly wrapped package of raging guitars and soaring vocals, this quintessential Britpop beach anthem should be more widely acclaimed for its eccentricity. It strays from pop-hook simplicity and instead dips its toes into the waters of subversion, hailing it a praise-worthy hit that still stands proud against the forces of time. 

6.) Catatonia – I Am The Mob 

This song celebrates the band at its punkiest and most cinematic, with its spotlight firmly held on the beautiful aggression of Welsh wonder Cerys Matthews. Her voice rasps with a forty-a-day flare and anarchically violent lyrics, reaffirming I Am The Mob’s status as a certified cult classic. 

5.) Echobelly – Dark Therapy 

As the title suggests, this song is darker than the band’s more high-profile hits, such as the head-bobbing King Of The Kerb. Sonya Madan’s layers of angelic harmony cast a dimension of sadness and spirituality, embellished with a hard-hitting guitar solo. It artistically pulls the world of pop into more haunting territory.

4.) Suede – Metal Mickey 

Suede were one of Britpop’s “Big Four” along with Blur, Pulp and Oasis, yet this song seems to have slipped into history’s cracks, underwhelmed by media and fan attention. It is still gold-gilded with the band’s iconic 70s glamour, but also retains kitchen sink grit with low, heavy guitars and bleak lyricism, making it a valuable 90s heirloom that breaks the rigid mould of pop music.  

The Top 3: Britpop’s Most Underrated Classics

3.) Oasis – Bonehead’s Bank Holiday 

It would be blasphemous not to include Oasis on any list detailing Britpop, and Bonehead’s Bank Holiday has been criminally camouflaged in (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? for too long. For the full story of how Oasis got there, see our retrospective on Definitely Maybe. Unlike the aqueous whines of Wonderwall, this comically discordant track more closely resembles a beer garden anecdote. The Gallaghers once again reach into the past and employ Beatles-esque humour, lacing the song with slurred cutting-room-floor chatter and unnaturally bad West Country accents, perfectly encapsulating the carefree spirit of Britpop. 

2.) The Bluetones – If… 

Despite its permanent residence in the shadow of Slight Return, If… remains a bunting-hung celebration of a track with swelling instrumentals and earworm lyrics. This tune was late to the Britpop bandwagon, yet beams with all the feel-good romance of the movement: it should artefactually and triumphantly remain a watermark on the 90s. 

1.) Longpigs – Happy Again 

Happy Again is more than deserving of the top spot on our Britpop podium. It masterfully blends the sleazy guitar rhythm of Richard Hawley in his pre-Pulp days with the bizarre and debauched poetry of Crispin Hunt’s lyrics. Swaggering, seedy and etched with charisma, this track has been wrongfully swept into the shadows by the Britpop hierarchy, and should be recognised for its bulldozing dynamism. 

Although only brief, Britpop will always be a prominent thread of Britain’s patriotic legacy — a legacy Noel Gallagher continues to shape today. If you delve beyond the “Best of…” CDs, you’ll uncover a host of forgotten gems that still sparkle thirty years later.

Charlie Jolley
Contributor, BritRock Heaven