Britpop: The Next Generation

Anyone with a fleeting interest in British music knows that bands come and go. The NME's next big thing often become has beens in a matter months. In this article CHESTER surveys the form of gonna bees, before they fade away...

by Tabitha Carvan & Alex Allegos

Another band of teenage Mancs looking to the big time. Influenced by the Beatles, Stones and Small Faces and supporters of City over United. It comes as no surprise that Leon lives down the road from Ma Gallagher.

Northern Uproar are signed to the stylish Heavenly label. They've toured with the likes of The Charlatans, Stone Roses, Marion, Paul Weller, Black Grape and Cast.

Who are Northern Uproar?
Leon Magen (Vocals/Bass), Geoffrey Fletcher - (Lead Guitar), Paul Kelly (Rhythm Guitar) and Keith Chadwick (Drums)

Where are they from?
Manchester (where else?)

Their Sound
Their debut single 'Rollercoaster' was a fast paced catchy pop treat, co-produced by James Dean Bradfield of the Manics. Their follow-up single 'From a Window' made the UK Top 20. They recently released their self titled debut album.

and their sponsor is...
Northern Uproar's recent headline tour of the UK was sponsored by "Levi's".

Creation sign-ees whose contract included the proviso that they never have to work on St David's Day, The Furries started off life in 1993 as a techno band writing drug-inspired songs that would "bore your pants off". They soon turned to drug-inspired Welsh-language pop and released their Welsh concept EP piss-take "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllantysiliogogogochynygofod (In Space)" on Angst Records.

After signing on with Alan McGee, they started recording drug-inspired eclecto-pop in English, and regretting their Welsh associations of past (I regret having to type it). They are trying to play down the drug references, but tracks like "Something for the Weekend" on their debut album "Fuzzy Logic", doesn't help with words like: "First time I did it for the hell of it / Stuck it on the back of my tongue / And swallowed it". And they may claim not to be quirky but they do have a song in which the guitarist, Bumf, has conversation with his hamster Stavros (who's picture appears on the inner sleeve alongside Bill Hicks, Isaac Newton, The Guy From Sparks and weather girl Sian Lloyd).

Consorting with known criminals?The cover of "Fuzzy Logic" displays the varying guises of legendary Welsh drug trafficker Howard Marks, who is also immortalised on the track 'Hangin' With Howard Marks'. In returned gratitude, Marks mentions The Furries in his upcoming autobiography, saying that after release from prison in Florida their music was "calling him back to Wales". Which is more than Carlos The Jackal did for Black Grape.

Where are they from?
Cardiff, but says Gruff: "Musically, we could as just have easily come from Japan".

Who are they?
Gruff Rhys (vocals and guitar), Dafydd Ieuan (drums), Cian Ciaran (strange and interesting electronic noises), Guto Pryce (bass), Huw "Bumf" Bunford (guitar).

What do they sound like?
Firm placement in 'quirky pop' territory has left them with accusations of being Welsh art-pop practitioners. Their Beach Boys / Byrds-esque grasp of melody, and their unhindered use of technology has resulted in what could be described as a tripped-out, more abstract version of Teenage Fanclub.

Sheffield's Longpigs formed back in 1993, signing to the new UK arm of Electra Records.

The Heartache
Just weeks before they were due to release their first single, the first of a chain of disasters struck. Driving down to London with a couple of band members, singer Crispin Hunt had a serious car crash which left him in a coma for three days. Then, as he was hauling himself back to fitness, their label suddenly opted to close its London office, leaving the entire band in limbo.

Releases
The Longpigs finally signed to Mother Records and released their first single in April 1995, the aptly title 'Happy Again'. Since that release the band experienced UK Top 40 action with their single 'Far'. The bands first longplayer title "The Sun Is Often Out" was released in April. The Longpigs also had their track "On & On" included on the soundtrack to the film Mission:Impossible.

Who are Longpigs?
Crispin Hunt (vocals/guitar), Richard Hawley (guitar), Simon Stafford (bass), Dee Boyle (drums).

Claim to Fame
The Longpigs' drummer Dee Boyle was once a member of Cabaret Voltaire.

Pop revivalism, in all its spangled glory, can very easily turn nasty, but Plastic Fantastic are put simply, evil. Their sinister path started in 1984 when singer Stuart performed with baggy-rock losers Scorpio Rising and then, more than ten years later, the path was "rejuvenated" by style journo Robert Elms when he (re)created Romo, a slight on '90's music culture if ever there was one (and that includes the tough competition of the NWONW, The Sex Pistols' reformation and Menswear too). Alongside Dex Dexter, Hollywood and Orlando, Plastic Fantastic fail even to be funny, as the total ticket sales of their joint tour (a big twenty-eight) most satisfyingly prove.

Who are they? And Who Cares?
They are John Golds (bass), Shadric (guitar), Conrad Toop (keyboards), Stuart Fantastic (vocals). And two journalists at Melody Maker used to care, but even they're over it now

Where are they from? And can they go back please?
They came from Brighton. Where they can stay for all I care.

What do they sound like?
Well, it's not so much about the music as the look, the style... Which is damn lucky because the music is certifiably crap (but so is the "look" oddly enough). 1986 should be left alone - it was bad enough the first time round.

The inspiration for their name came from the Verve B-Side "Man Called Sun". On this basis alone they can't be all that bad. They're also this zines sentimental faves being from the Northern town Chester!

Who are Mansun?
Paul (vocals/guitar), Stove (bass) and Chad (guitarist). The first half of1996 saw Mansun lose they're keyboard player and drummer.

Their sound
Heavy pop, with strong melodies and blasting guitars. Although from the Oasis school of music, they avoid being entirely derivative and have developed there own distinctive sound.

Those song titles
Mansun are also responsible for some of the most novel song titles including 'Take It Easy Chicken', 'Ski-Jump Nose' and 'Egg-Shaped Fred'. New single is 'Stripper Vicar', about - you guessed it, a vicar by day, and stripper by night.

Who are Nilon Bombers?
Drew Norton (vocals/guitar), Gareth Bellard (guitar), Martin Williams (drums), Kim Dorman (Bass).

Where are they from?
Nilon Bombers were formed in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Their sound
They take their musical inspiration from sources as diverse as David Bowie, The Damned and The Byrds. Not afraid to confront issues the title track to their first EP 'Cleo' is about domestic violence (heavy stuff indeed). On recording their debut album...Drummer Martin Williams describes the Bombers experience in recording their debut album with Los Angeles producer Kim Fowley:

"It's like we'd taken a huge brass pot, and in it we put our friends, homes, girlfriends, school desks, vodka, lemsip, thousands of cigarettes, the memories of the first girls we ever went out with, fruit machines, birthday cake, dead relatives, calomine lotion, cricket bats, football boots, and Kim Fowley. We heated the mixture to a thick, bubbling brew over flames of time and ambition. At the bottom of the pot there's a small tap, and a gooey sort of paint came out when we opened the valve. We smeared the liquid over reels and reels of Ampex high performance two inch recording tape. And built something new."

Can't wait to listen to that...

A quartet of three brothers and some other decidedly left-out bloke, who are all close enough to adolescence to be able to write songs about alienation, masturbation and the confusing aspects of girlfriends with great authority and without the kind of embarrassing humiliation that Morrissey faces writing about the same things in his 30's. They pride themselves on their Irish roots and moreover, their Irish literacy, and seem to throw in mentions of James Joyce at every turn, which is more than can be said for Northern Uproar.

Who are they?
Mark Cullen (guitar and vocals), Darren Cullen (guitar), Jason Cullen (drums), Stephen McBride (bass).

Where are they from?
Are now located in London, but are originally from Dublin.

What do they sound like?
Extremely tune-friendly, dark indie-rock. Sing-along to songs about teen angst and despair, which musically could possibly be described as post-britpop due to its more intricate, less britpop-blatant take on tunefulness. Bawl have been described as both "the grown-up Ash" and "the Dada Ash", possibly because of the teen / masturbatory link rather than a musical one.

Glasgow teenagers Bis have stormed the British indie scene, building an impressive list of credits including a slot on the NME Brats tour, a John Peel session, a Radio One playlisting for Kandy Pop, and tours with Super Furry Animals, Supergrass, Bluetones, Garbage and Lush. Most notably, Bis also became the first unsigned band to ever play Top Of The Pops.

Who are Bis?
Manda Rin (vocals/keyboard/recorder, and brothers Sci-Fi Stephen (guitar/vocals) and John Disko(bass).

Where are they from?
Glasgow

And their sound?
The B-52s with loud guitars. Their sound is punk, kitsch funk and electronic power pop. You really have to hear them to understand.

Kings of the underground fraternity, who got their impossibly ridiculous name from a Japanese comic, The Yats are part of the new wave of Scottish bands (alongside, most notably, Bis, Spare Snare and The Delgados) taking on the South. They're showing an increasing tendency towards a laid-back, almost epic feel, most evident on the single 'Plastic Ashtray'. They have released their debut album on Che records, entitled "We Are Urusei Yatsura".

Where are they from?
Glasgow

Who are they?
Graham Kemp (guitar and vocals), Fergus Lawrie (guitar and vocals), Elaine Graham (bass), Ian Graham (drums)

What do they sound like?
They may be Scots but they owe great debt to the US alterna-rock scene, drawing influence from most notably, Pavement, Number One Cup and Sonic Youth, but they have their own name all over their brand of spiky guitar pop.

Rock classicists who have earned themselves a well-founded reputation as The Band That Can't Say No. If it actually ever happens that the Dolls don't appear in Public NME one week, then you can simply accept that nothing worth knowing about happened that week. They were embarrassingly lumped with the NWONW bunch with the release of the untimely spiky 'Happy Shopper' in 1994, but are now being hailed as producing the best album of the 'Definitely Maybe' kind since that record's release.

Myth Perpetuation?
They dutifully named a song "No1 Alcohol" on their album, 'The Big 3', released at the end of May.

Where are they from?
Welsh Provincial backgrounds, setting the scene for eternal media references to fellow-Welshmen Super Furry Animals, Catatonia and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, and jokes about leeks, daffodils and sheep.

Who are they?
Mike Cole (bass), Carl, Richard

What do they sound like?
They nicked the intro to 'Pinball Wizard'! They borrow riffs from The Stooges! They like booze! They like birds! They're into straight, celebratory, raw, thundering pub-punk!

Metal-influnced tunesters who are attempting to dispel the 'myths' about heavy music lacking sensitivity. They are doing an okay job at it, as they appear to partake in such intellectual activity as reading books, and wearing clothes of a lighter shade than black. The cover of their debut album "infliction", with an explicit photo of an, um, infliction, has set them back a bit though. They have toured with Ash, Placebo, Lush and Pusherman.

Where are they from?
Derry, Irelend

Who are they?
Audrey Gallagher (vocals), Joe Bates (drums), Neal Calderwood (guitar), Peter Fleming (bass), Paddy Leydon (guitar)

What do they sound like?
A fairly ear-blistering, if tuneful, racker, with an undeniable metallic edge (sensistive or not). Singer, Audrey Gallagher, does a fairly convincing impression of Shirley Manson, with the same sweet/tough delivery.