Greetings from Knoxville, TN where I am attending Big Ears 2025 where two-thirds of Portishead are playing separately, along with Tortoise, Tindersticks, Jessica Pratt, Darkside, Michael Rother (Neu!, Harmonia), Waxahatchee, Lankum, Yo La Tengo & Sun Ra Arkestra, Explosions in the Sky, and lots more. Check out my daily recaps here.

It’s another busy week for new releases, including a few more records that seem likely to end up in my Best of 2025 list come December. Today I review new albums from Destroyer, Snapped Ankles, Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500, Luna), The Darkness, Hannah Cohen, Montreal’s Population II, Philly synthwave duo Korine, and Sacred Paws. This week’s Indie Basement Classic is one of Britpop’s Class of 1995.

If you need more reviews of this week’s many new albums, Andrew spins the latest from Deafheaven, Great Grandpa, Perfume Genius, SPELLLING, and more in Notable Releases.

Be sure to check out my interviews with Destroyer’s Dan Bejar and The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins.

Until next week, head below for this week’s reviews.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK #1: Destroyer – Dan’s Boogie (Merge / Bella Union)
Dan Bejar does it again with an album of widescreen torch songs featuring mind-blowing sound design

After three albums where Dan Bejar flirted with dance music, he has embraced his inner lounge and cabaret singer on the fourteenth Destroyer album. The record opens with the kind of sweeping strings you might hear at the start of an awards show in the ’70s with Dan is your host for the evening, though he’s the kind that might slide up to you afterwards and ask, “Hey mister, you wanna buy some diamond rings?” Dan’s Boogie presents a world of faded glamour, like a ’40s noir film full of seedy locales and seedier locals. Everybody’s hustling to get by and that’s the “boogie” of the title.

Dan told us he sees this one as “a mix of Poison Season and Your Blues in a lot of ways” and while you can hear that in the songs themselves, the production is like no other Destroyer album. John Collins, who has been Destroyer’s chief sonic architect since ’90s, has really outdone himself here with the sound design. There is something in the atmosphere of these arrangements that makes the room you’re listening in sound three times bigger than it is. While Dan’s Boogie sounds good on headphones, it sounds great on an actual stereo. The bongos and bass on “Bologna,” drenched in dubbed-out reverb, are spectacular and set the stage for a Destroyer first: lead vocals by someone else, Fiver’s Simone Schmidt, who brings a smoky cool to the table, leaving Dan as a bit player in a rumpled suit in his own story.

Collins shoots the album in widescreen technicolor, allowing us to see the stains of this tableau that would be hidden in black and white — musically speaking, of course — as Dan’s signature word salad style makes your head spin. A few choice lines: “The opera house is a jam space for the desperate and insane”; “At night cats get smashed in the snow, I don’t mind’; “Fools rush in but they’re the only ones with guts”; and “The family curse was our signature scent / The world ran from it holding its nose.” As with the best Destroyer albums, and this is one of them, don’t worry about the details and meaning. Be like Dan at a Destroyer show: sit back, have a sip of a beverage, and revel in the world of sound he’s created.

MORE: I talked with Bejar about Dan’s Boogie and a lot of other baloney.

Dan’s Boogie by Destroyer

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ALBUM OF THE WEEK #2: Snapped Ankles – Hard Times Furious Dancing (The Leaf Label)
Could an album be more of its time? This is the high-concept London band’s best yet.

Since their start in the late 2010s, London’s Snapped Ankles have presented themselves as creatures of the forest who’ve come down out of the branches to warn us against banks, big real estate, big corporations and the world leaders they have in their pockets, delivering their message via banging post-punk, techno, and commische rhythms. It’s like if Dr Seuss’ The Lorax led LCD Soundsystem. Swiping the title of their fourth album from Alice Walker’s 2010 book Hard Times Require Furious Dancing, Snapped Ankles have made a record that couldn’t feel more of the moment — in the best possible way — in one of the hardest times many of us have witnessed. And the music is indeed furious, urgent beats regularly flung at BPMs well above 140, with syncopated percussion and squelching synths — many of which are homemade and built into hollowed-out logs (their live show is wild) — and shouted sloganeering a la Mark E Smith.

Hard Times Furious Dancing is a real state-of-the-world record, taking a look at everything from the fractured post-Covid music industry on “Pay the Rent” (“This band exists to sell beverage / While the venue tries to make a dent”) to those evil conglomerates on “Personal Responsibilities” (“They don’t apply to very large companies”), and starting an impromptu dance party in an endless customs line (“Dancing in Transit”). Unlike their last couple albums, these tunes were road-tested before recording and everything feels extra dialed up for maximum endorphin release. It all comes together, including the KLF-inspired but very Snapped Ankles cover art, for what is easily the group’s best, most fun, and cathartic record yet.

Hard Times Furious Dancing by Snapped Ankles

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Hannah Cohen – Earthstar Mountain (Bella Union / Congrats Records)
Sufjan Stevens and Clairo contribute, but it’s the sumptuous production and arrangements, and Cohen’s versatile voice that make Cohen’s fourth album a stunner

What a gorgeous-sounding album this is. Hannah Cohen has created a sumptuous garden of earthly aural delights for her fourth album. The cascade of flutes and strings on “Dusty” that opens the album instantly sets the mood, conjuring rainbows and spring. (This record couldn’t have picked a better release date, as trees are in full bloom on the East Coast.) While that song is an homage to Dusty Springfield, it also brings to mind Minnie Riperton’s kaleidoscopic single “Le Fleurs” and more than holds up to the comparison. “Dusty” is a hard act to follow, but Hannah follows it with the sultry, sassy strut of “Draggin'” and “Mountain” which has serious Fleetwood Mac vibes and harmonies via Sufjan Stevens. The wonders keep flowing from there, from sunshine pop to spectral folk, groovy soul, and even a wonderful cover of Ennio Morricone’s “Una Spiaggia” with Cohen and Catskills neighbor Clairo nailing those otherworldly vocalizations. Hannah’s partner and producer, Sam Evian, did similar magic with records by Kate Bollinger and Katie Von Schleicher and helps Cohen catch those sounds she’s chasing, and no doubt those guest contributors are cool, but Earthstar Mountain is Hannah’s baby all the way.

Earthstar Mountain by Hannah Cohen

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Dean Wareham – That’s the Price of Loving Me (Carpark)
Dean reteams with producer Kramer for the first time since Galaxie 500 for his excellent third proper solo album

You know what to expect from a Dean Wareham record at this point, 40 years into his career, through Galaxie 500, Luna, Dean & Britta, collabs with Sonic Boom and more: tranquil guitar rock that’s lazy, soft and slow with subtle guitar fireworks and his wry sense of humor present in the lyrics. It’s a sound that is indebted to the Velvets and Jonathan Richman but at this point is just his own. One thing you might not expect is for Dean to reteam with Kramer who he hasn’t worked with since Kramer produced all three of Galaxie 500’s albums. They’d remained friendly over the years but the pandemic brought them closer and they decided to see what would happen in the studio. It turns out not much has changed in 35 years, the magic was still there and Kramer continues to work quick. “Kramer believes two takes yield more treasure than 20,” says Dean. Recorded in just six days, That’s the Price of Loving Me is Wareham’s finest solo record to date and the best thing he’s done since Dean & Britta’s 2003 album, L’Avventura. The atmosphere is relaxed but confident, and while the fidelity is decidedly higher than those Galaxie 500 records — and Dean is using more chords these days — there are definitely moments that flash back to the late ’80s. “New World Julie” feels like a cousin to “Pictures” from Galaxie 500’s debut, Today, and covering Mayo Thompson’s “Dear Betty Baby” feels like a nod to G500’s take on The Red Krayola’s “Victory Garden.” This is a cozy, comfy record with nice touches like the strings on “You Were the Ones I Had to Betray” and “That’s the Price of Loving Me,” the vibraphone on his cover of Nico’s “Reich der Träume.” (Britta Phillips’ backing vocals are always welcome too.) It’s the guitar touches, dipped lightly in reverb, that really get you, though. “Yesterday’s Hero,” which is in a tie with the title track for best song on the album, blooms with dueling leads panned to opposite sides for the stereo field. They run out the last minute of the song and it’s so satisfying, so pretty, that I wish it would go on three times as long. Here’s to old friends, may they continue to make more records like this together.

That’s the Price of Loving Me by Dean Wareham

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The Darkness – Dreams on Toast (Canary Dwarf Ltd / Cooking Vinyl)
Still a bit inconsistent but this is The Darkness’ best, most tuneful and concise album since their hit debut Permission to Land

The Darkness’ 2003 debut album, Permission to Land, is a perfect album — 10 cheeky, hooky songs loaded with huge riffs, earworm choruses, lots of great solos, nonstop innuendo, and the best Pulp song Jarvis Cocker never wrote. They haven’t been able to match it since. The band almost immediately went off the rails with its follow-up, One Way Ticket to Hell…And Back (a literal “coke album”) and then broke up with frontman Justin Hawkins entering rehab. He got clean, and then the band got back together, making another five albums that, while fun, never had the hookiness that made the first such a classic. They’ve finally come close with Dreams on Toast, the band’s eighth album, that brings the focus back on the choons while being their most varied record to date, featuring lots of rawk but also Sweet-style bubble-glam, and even a couple forays into country and western. It’s also got their best single in 20 years, “The Longest Kiss,” a precision hook delivery device that manages to pack in multiple choruses, a middle eighth and two amazing solos in under three minutes. They also have a couple goes at the “rock song about Rock N’ Roll” genre, the best of them being “Walking Through Fire.” Justin Hawkins’ self-effacing, funny-cause-it’s-true sense of humor is on display in this tale of a past-their-prime band: “Our next long player ooooh it’s coming out soon / I’ll be honest, I’m under the moon / We’re only doing this‚ cos it’s fun / Don’t even think my mum bought the last one.” He adds “We never stopped making shit albums / It’s just that no one buys them anymore” before he and brother Dan Hawkins launch into an awesome, towering twin lead solo and into a real fist-pumper of a chorus that is as catchy as it is dumb (“I can’t help / falling in love with rock and roll). Hawkins is a little more serious, lyrically, this time around but for those looking for that signature Darkness innuendo, there’s “Hot on My Tail” which…well you’re just going to have to listen for yourself. The record is nowhere near perfect but it’s never not enjoyable and memorable, and it’s clear they’re having a blast this time.  At their best, nobody tightrope walks that Spinal Tap fine line between stupid and clever quite like The Darkness and their balance seems to finally be back.

MORE: Read my interview with Justin Hawkins about Dreams on Toast

Dreams on Toast by The Darkness

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Sacred Paws – Jump Into Life (Merge)
Third album of Afrobeat-inspired indie rock from former members of Shopping and Golden Grrrls is a delight

“Jump Into Life” is a perfect title for the bright, bouncy and melodic second album from Sacred Paws, aka the duo of Ray Aggs (Shopping) and Eilidh Rodgers (Golden Grrrls). Much like their terrific second album, the also well-titled Run Around the Sun, this is joyous indie rock filtered through Afrobeat and, this time, a few traditional UK folk touches as well. Banjo and fiddle is a surprising touch on “Another Day,” It’s that blend of styles that makes Sacred Paws unique. Songs like “Turn Me Down,” “Through the Dark” and “Winter” could’ve been trad guitar pop but there isn’t a strummed instrument here; interweaving lead lines dance across the fretboard, spinning with the bass and syncopated drumming. The melodies are straight pop, but the arrangements pull everything in other directions. The cheeriness of the music is counterbalanced by the melancholy tinged lyrics; “I’ll never hold what’s in your heart, I hope you’re somewhere you call home” they sing on opener “Save Something” that is otherwise pure sunshine. Sacred Paws don’t slow down once across these 11 tracks — even “Slowly Slowly” is breathlessly paced — and at 35 minutes feels like it’s over in a flash, urging you to hit play again.

Jump Into Life by SACRED PAWS

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Population II – Maintenant Jamais (Bonsound)
Third album from this talented Montreal psych-garage group sets the controls for the heart of the sun 

You may have seen Montreal psych-garage power trio Population II opening for Oh Sees — they toured together a couple times and have released albums on John Dwyer’s Castle Face Records — and you can see why these bands get along so well. “Garage Rock” doesn’t do either of them justice, and Population II incorporate proto-metal, krautrock, spacerock, “jazz odyssey,” and way-out-there psychedelia into their repertoire. The band’s third album, Maintenant Jamais (“Now Never”), is a real trip. Working with producer Dominic Vanchesteing (Marie Davidson, Chocolat), the band are at their best when aiming for as far out as possible, with hard-hitting yet lithe and funky drumming, fat analog synths blasting alongside fuzzed out guitars, and heavy bass all cranked up to the max. It’s a bit like before Tame Impala went festival pop, but even more it’s Hawkwind, King Crimson, and Pink Floyd (pre and post Syd) smooshed into three three talented French Canadian weirdos in 2025. Spectaculaire!

Maintenant Jamais by POPULATION II

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Korine – A Flame in the Dark (Born Losers Records)
The latest from this Philly synthwave duo is perfect for your next goth aerobics workout session

Listening to A Flame in the Dark, the fourth album from Philly synthwave duo Korine, I was struck by an image of a bunch of ’80s goths dekked out in leotards and leg warmers doing aerobics. I feel certain that is not what they were aiming for but I think it is a perfect descriptor for the album, and I definitely mean it in a good way. The synths, drum sounds, and guitars are Pure ’80s — New Order, Depeche Mode, The Cure, John Hughes soundtracks, the glory days of LA’s KROQ, etc — and the hooks are undeniable and keep coming. Tying a black bow on all this is singer Morgy Ramone whose vocal delivery is both totally bummed out and full of bratty attitude. A lot of current groups blatantly mine the shiny Reagan/Thatcher years for inspiration but few do it with as much style, originality and tunes as Korine. Add this one to your workout mix, mascara optional.

A Flame In The Dark by Korine

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INDIE BASEMENT CLASSIC: Elastica – Elastica (Geffen, 1995)
Elastica’s fantastic self-titled debut just turned 30 and still sounds great

Pulled from our Best Britpop Albums of 1995 list: Led by Justine Frischmann — who had been an early member of Suede and for much of the ’90s was one half of Britpop’s #1 Power Couple with Blur’s Damon Albarn — Elastica were a breath of fresh air when they released “Stutter,” their 1993 debut single that mixed punk, new wave and heaps of attitude. If you weren’t paying attention then, you certainly were by the time of their third single, “Connection,” that borrowed (and later paid for) its riff from Wire’s “Three Girl Rhumba.” When the song kicks in at the 20 second mark, you’ve got one of 1994’s most undeniable hooks. The band were not shy about paying homage to bands they loved: “Line Up” also borrowed heavily from Wire, and “Waking Up” tipped its hat to The Stranglers’ “No More Heroes.” The wait for their debut album seemed like forever, and when it was finally released in March of 1995 it became the fastest selling UK album since Oasis’ Definitely Maybe the year before and held onto the title till Arctic Monkeys’ Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not in 2006. More than half of Elastica‘s songs had already seen release on singles (including some b-sides) which made it a little disappointing for fans at the time, but it now just sounds like a start-to-finish classic.

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The 20 Best Britpop Albums of 1995

20. Echobelly – On

Where Echobelly's debut album (1994's Everybody's Got One) was as shiny as Britpop got, the band scuffed things up just a little for its follow-up, and made On with American production team Sean Slade and Paul Q Kolderie (Buffalo Tom, Hole, Radiohead's The Bends). The guitars rip and roar a touch more, but songs like "Great Things," "King of the Kerb," and "Pantyhose and Roses" remain chipper, sugar-sweet and ridiculously catchy. Like on their debut, On's most distinctive feature remains singer Sonya Aurora Madan whose crystal clear voice really makes things soar.

19. Salad – Drink Me

London group Salad was led by Dutch musician and model Marijne van der Vlugt who was also a VJ for MTV Europe at the same time she was in the band. She was a striking presence in the band with a clear, powerful voice that cut through the often jagged guitars --- all of which set them apart from the rest of the Britpop pack. Certainly no other group was releasing anything quite as wonderfully odd as "Motorbike to Heaven" or "Drink the Elixir" at the time. Despite being on a major label (Island Records subsidiary Red), Salad were just a little too odd for mainstream popularity -- though Drink Me did briefly enter the UK Top 20 -- but it does, however, make the album ripe for rediscovery (they're also back in action).

18. Menswe@r – Nuisance

Every genre seems to have its blatantly commercial group that pays close attention to the competition, trying to beat them at their own game while proclaiming what they really want to be is famous. Menswe@r were that band for Britpop, a group that felt like they were conceived in the pages of the hype-heavy British music press or at a scene-y Camden pub like The Good Mixer. In fact, the band's Johnny Dean and Chris Gentry managed to get a quote about Menswe@r in an issue of Select when the band was just an idea in their head, and Melody Maker put them on the cover before they'd released a single. (MM did the same for Suede.) Musically, the group swiped ideas from all the other popular bands: Like Elastica, they ripped off Wire ("Daydreamer") and brought in a string section a la Oasis or Blur for swoony ballad "Being Brave." Pulp and Suede are also clearly points of reference from the hairstyles down. But as far as style-forward disposable pop goes, Nuisance is enjoyable fluff and, unlike some groups, Menswe@r don't attempt to hide what they're doing.

17. Various Artists – The Help Album

Some of the biggest artists in the UK and Ireland, including most of the Britpop Elite, contributed new songs to this high concept benefit album aiding the War Child charity. The concept was inspired by John Lennon's "Instant Karma" -- the idea that all art should be released to the world as soon as it's made. So 20 artists went into the studio on September 4, 1995 and the album was in the shops five days later. Some of the Britpop highlights: Radiohead's "Lucky," which would appear two years later on OK Computer; a new, terrific acoustic version of Oasis b-side "Fade Away" featuring Johnny Depp and Kate Moss; Suede covering Elvis Costello's "Shipbuilding" (also famously covered by Robert Wyatt); Blur in playful instrumental mode on "Eine kleine Lift Musik"; The KLF's Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty as The One World Orchestra with a cover of The Magnificent Seven theme (their first music in four years); Salad and Specials frontman Terry Hall covering "Dream a Little Dream of Me"; and The Charlatans covering Sly & The Family Stone's "Time for Livin'." The biggest deal was a cover of The Beatles' "Come Together" by The Smokin' Mojo Filters (aka Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller), but the secret best song is Sinead O'Connor's cover of Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billy Joe."

16. Shack – Waterpistol

Shack were one of those bands who seemed poised for stardom but just couldn't catch a break or get out of their own way. Led by brothers Michael and John Head, who spent most of the '80s in orchestral indie band The Pale Fountains, Shack updated the '60s merseybeat sounds of their Liverpool hometown, which landed them sonically somewhere between The La's and The Stone Roses. Recording of their second album took place in 1991, but went over schedule as Michael Head struggled to finish songs; when the album was finished, the studio burned down along with the album's masters. The only finished copy of the record was in the possession of producer Chris Allison...who accidentally left the tape in a rental car. The DAT tape was eventually tracked down but by the time it was back in the hands of the group, their label had folded. Waterpistol finally saw release in 1995, by which time Shack had been broken up for a couple years already, with Michael Head falling into heroin addiction. Drama and back luck aside, Waterpistol is a fantastic record that felt very of the moment in 1995, full of shoulda-been-hits like "Dragonfly," "Mood of the Morning" and "Walter's Song." A lost classic that is well worth seeking out.

15. The Verve – A Northern Soul

The Verve started off as a deeply psychedelic band, known more for Nick McCabe's awesome, tripped out guitar pyrotechnics and frontman Richard Ashcroft's million-mile stare than catchy melodies. That all changed with The Verve's second album, which they made with Oasis producer Owen Morris. McCabe's playing was still very cosmic but was now in service of hooky rock songs that also made better use of Ashcroft's powerful pipes. (Drummer Pete Salisbury and bassist Simon Jones, meanwhile, were one of the best rhythm sections of the '90s.) Tracks like "This is Music" and "A New Decade" were still pretty far out, but it was singles "On Your Own" and "History" that proved The Verve could give the Gallaghers a run for their money in the sweeping ballad department.

14. Blur – The Great Escape

After the one-two punch of 1993's Modern Life is Rubbish and 1994's Parklife, there was a lot of pressure on Blur to one up themselves again. Of course, anything short of amazing was gonna be a letdown, and at the time this third serving of quirky British life felt like one Full English Breakfast too many. (Blur were full, too; the band looked to Magic America for 1997's self titled album which, woohoo, gave them their first U.S. hit.) But with the distance of 25 years, The Great Escape is actually a really good album, from singalong hits "Stereotypes" and "Charmless Man" (one of the great Blur singles), to the swaying "Best Days" and bouncing "Top Man." Blur and The Great Escape really excel at sweeping mood pieces and three of their best are here: "The Universal," "He Thought of Cars" and "Yuko and Hiro." Even the none-more-Blur "Country House" sounds pretty good now.

13. Paul Weller – Stanley Road

Never one to get too comfortable with his surroundings, Paul Weller has had a pathological need to reinvent himself over the years. He broke up The Jam at the height of their stardom to form the politically active, suave pop group The Style Council, which he then disbanded in 1989 just after turning 30. He changed things up again for his '90s solo career, making the kind of earthy, soulful rock you might expect from Traffic or Joe Cocker. At the same time a new crop of British groups (Supergrass, Blur, Pulp) looked to The Jam and The Style Council for inspiration. It all made it a perfect time for a Weller comeback. Having primed things with 1993's Wild Wood, Paul really delivered with the million-selling Stanley Road that featured a host of collaborators, including Steve Winwood, his old Style Council cohort Mick Talbot and big fan Noel Gallagher. Stanley Road's sound fit right in between Oasis and The Charlatans and on the album's lead single, "Changing Man," he even addressed his need to blow things up and start again -- "Numbed by the effect, aware of the muse, too in touch with myself, I light the fuse" -- all while cementing his Modfather status.

12. Sleeper – Smart

Louise Wener and Jon Stewart, who had been in a number of college bands together before moving to London, took out an ad in Melody Maker: "Bass player and drummer wanted. Influences The Pixies and The Partridge Family." Sleeper were born. Wener was a charismatic frontwoman and an even better lyricist, riviling Jarvis Cocker with witty, relatable tales of romantic angst, mid-20s ennui and sex in the suburbs. All that can be found on Sleeper's debut album, Smart, which kicks off with three fantastic singles: love-the-one-you're-with Top 20 UK hit "Inbetweener," the Pixies-ish "Swallow," and decidedly randy "Delicious." The nine songs that follow are nearly as good. The IT Girl, released in 1996, is even better but Sleeper  wouldn't last much longer, breaking up in 1998 after their third album; Wener then put her observational talents to good use as a novelist (her debut, 2002's Goodnight Steve McQueen, is terrific). Sleeper reformed in 2017 and released the very good The Modern Age in 2019.

11. Gene – Olympian

London group Gene were dogged by comparisons to The Smiths, due mostly to frontman Martin Rossitter's at times uncanny vocal resemblance to Morrissey, but also their purple-prosed lyrics and a propensity for sticking some of their best songs on b-sides. Those comparisons were fairly superficial, though, with guitarist Steve Mason drawing more from Small Faces' Steve Marriott or Paul Weller than Johnny Marr, and Rossitter offering a more positive, romantic, us-vs-the-world outlook than Moz. Gene also tended to swing for the fences with big riffs and bigger anthemic choruses, and their debut album, Olympian, finds them connecting with real power, whether it was swaggering rock like "Haunted by You," "Car That Sped" and "To the City," or more windswept numbers like "London, Can You Wait" and the title track. To See the Sights, released the next year, collects non-LP singles and b-sides from this era and is, to further that Smiths comparison, their Hatful of Hollow and a great companion to Olympian.

10. The Charlatans – The Charlatans

The Charlatans are survivors, having started as part of the Manchester music scene in the wake of The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. But they have managed to change with the changing times, surviving a few major setbacks and tragedies, while maintaining their own identity and Hammond organ-led sound. As Madchester's high faded, guitars began figuring in a little more prominently into their sound. While 1994's Up to Our Hips stumbled, The Charlatans sorted themselves out by the time of their self-titled fourth album, which found them sounding more confident than ever, adopting a Stones-y Exile on Main Street vibe that put them right in heart of Britpop. The Charlatans was a #1 album for them, with terrific hit singles "Crashin' In," "Just When You're Thinkin Things Over" and "Just Lookin'." Another impressive pivot for one of the UK's most resilient bands of the last 30 years.

9. Teenage Fanclub – Grand Prix

Glasgow's Teenage Fanclub haven't altered their musical course much since forming in the late '80s, making a brand of jangly guitar pop that owes much to Big Star, Beach Boys and The Byrds. With a high level of quality that continues to this day, Teenage Fanclub have done it without ever really playing music industry games, just happy to crank out good record after good record. But in the mid-'90s, the Fannies' classic sound fit right in with the Britpop revival. It also coincided with the release of what is arguably their best album, Grand Prix, which to play off the album's Formula One cover art, has them firing on all cylinders. It helps to have three very good songwriters, and Grand Prix was their first record where guitarist Raymond McGinley's work rose to the level of his bandmates Norman Blake and Gerrard Love. Some of Teenage Fanclub's all-time best songs are here: Love's "Sparky's Dream" and "Don't Look Back," Blake's "Mellow Doubt" and "Neil Jung" and McGinley's "About You" and "Verisimilitude."

8. Boo Radleys – Wake Up!

The Boo Radleys began life as died-in-the-wool, noise-loving shoegazers but main songwriter Martin Carr always had a fondness for classic pop songwriting that fought its way through the noise of their early records. The band dabbled in straight-up guitar pop on 1993's Giant Steps, which is also around the time their label, Creation, signed a band named Oasis whose runaway success really changed everything for the label and the existing roster. Where bands like Ride and The Boo Radleys were once content to make "cool" indie records, there was now pressure to compete with the Gallaghers in the charts. Carr came from the same school of pop as The Kinks, The Beatles and The Zombies and proved to be a natural, with The Boo Radleys making the transition effortlessly on their fourth album, Wake Up! The ebullient, horn-filled first single "Wake Up Boo!" is a song, like Katrina & The Waves' "Walking on Sunshine," that was made to be played the minute the weather gets nice, and was a Top 10 hit for the band that stayed in the UK singles charts for most of the spring and summer. While that was the only hit on the album (which also went to #1) but "It's Lulu" and "Find the Answer Within" shoulda been smashes, too.

7. Black Grape – It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah

Happy Mondays crashed and burned during the making of their 1992 album Yes Please!, with frontman Shaun Ryder and other members of the band dealing with serious drug problems. Instead of disappearing off the face of the earth, Ryder and Mondays dancer/vibes man Bez rebounded surprisingly quickly, forming Black Grape in 1993, enlisting Ruthless Rap Assassins members Paul "Kermit" Leveridge and Ged Lynch as well as producer and songwriting partner Danny Saber. Past excesses thankfully hadn't dimmed Ryder's lyrical wit one bit, and the fresh start and new collaborators brought out the best in him. It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah, a title that referenced Ryder's new cleaned-up lifestyle, rivals Happy Mondays' Pills N' Thrills N' Bellyaches for sheer pleasure. The cover art, featuring a Pop Art illustration of Carlos the Jacklyn, referenced other things. Musically, Black Grape resembles Ryder's old band, but adapted to the mid-'90s with Kermit as a great vocal foil, and some of Britpop's anthemicism baked into singles "The Reverend Black Grape," "In the Name of the Father" (which takes swipes at the Catholic Church) and "Kelly's Heroes" (which sounds lot like Madonna's "Express Yourself"). Few artists manage a second act like this, let alone one so good.

6. Cast – All Change

The La's 1990 self-titled debut album is one of the direct precursors to Britpop and while frontman and songwriter Lee Mavers never made another album, sideman John Power proved more than up to the task of leading his own band, Cast. Enlisting Peter Wilkinson from Shack (another Liverpool band who had trouble with labels and frontmen), they formed a group who favored songs over bravado and drama. It was a formula that worked. Songs like "Alright," "Sandstorm," and "Finetime" sounded like classics from the get-go, with earworm choruses that stick in your head on first listen. John Leckie's production -- with layer upon layer of guitars and harmonies -- makes everything pop. The real appeal of All Change is just how effortless it all seems. These songs don't sound like they were written as much as they were always there just waiting to be heard.

5. Radiohead – The Bends

Nobody would call Radiohead Britpop now, and nobody really did in 1995 either, but The Bends definitely has more in common with Blur and Oasis than the proggy widescreen grandeur they would debut with OK Computer. These are pop songs played on guitars -- lots of guitars -- and tracks like "Fake Plastic Trees," "High and Dry," "Bones" and "The Bends" became the template for many new Britpop groups in the second half of the '90s. (See: Travis, Stereophonics, Longpigs, Coldplay.) John Leckie's production helps tracks like "Just" and "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" achieve liftoff, and The Bends is also notable as the record where they met Nigel Godrich, who engineered the record and would go on to form a beautiful friendship with the band that lasts to this day. Before The Bends, Radiohead were that band who did "Creep," but with this it was clear they would never be stuck in the land of One Hit Wonders.

4. Elastica – Elastica

Led by Justine Frischmann -- who had been an early member of Suede and for much of the '90s was one half of Britpop's #1 Power Couple with Blur's Damon Albarn -- Elastica were a breath of fresh air when they released "Stutter," their 1993 debut single that mixed punk, new wave and heaps of attitude. If you weren't paying attention then, you certainly were by the time of their third single, "Connection," that borrowed (and later paid for) its riff from Wire's "Three Girl Rhumba." When the song kicks in at the 20 second mark, you've got one of 1994's most undeniable hooks. The band were not shy about paying homage to bands they loved: "Line Up" also borrowed heavily from Wire, and "Waking Up" tipped its hat to The Stranglers' "No More Heroes." The wait for their debut album seemed like forever, and when it was finally released in March of 1995 it became the fastest selling UK album since Oasis' Definitely Maybe the year before and held onto the title till Arctic Monkeys' Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not in 2006. More than half of Elastica's songs had already seen release on singles (including some b-sides) which made it a little disappointing for fans at the time, but it now just sounds like a start-to-finish classic.

3. Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?

In the storied Blur Vs Oasis battle of 1995, when the band's respective singles "Country House" and "Roll With It" were released on the same day in the UK (August 14), Blur debuted at #1 with the Gallaghers coming in at #2. But Oasis won the war just a couple months later when their second album was released and made them worldwide superstars. (Blur's 1995 album, The Great Escape, was very good but just a little too British for mainstream international appeal.) Songwriter Noel Gallagher was at the top of his confident game; he was still swiping bits from his heroes but had also figured out Oasis' style by this point, mixing equal parts melody and swagger, with sing-a-long choruses that sound good even when the lyrics don't make a lot of sense (often). Beyond singles like "Wonderwall," "Don't Look Back in Anger" and "Champagne Supernova," Morning Glory's deep cuts, like "Cast No Shadow," are just as good. While their boasts of "bigger than the Beatles" were tiresome, for a while Oasis made a very good argument.

2. Supergrass – I Should Coco

Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes was only 19 when the band's debut album was released in May of 1995 (his bandmates weren't much older) and the record gets much of its charm from the trio's unbridled youthful energy that they managed to capture on tape. Its staying power, though, comes from the songs which are smart, insanely catchy and much more sophisticated than they first seem. I Should Coco incorporates a wide range of influences, including punk ("Caught by the Fuzz," "I'd Like to Know), glam ("Lose it," "Time"), '60s psych ("We're Not Supposed To"), and Britpop forebears the Kinks and Madness ("Alright," "Mansize Rooster"), but they jumble them together to make an infectious, distinctive sound. Supergrass were also ferociously talented musicians, with drummer Danny Goffey's playing keeping those energy levels high as the band tear though the album's 13 tracks in just 40 minutes, and that's including the six-minute spaced out, proggy "Sofa of My Lethargy". I Should Coco was a huge hit in the UK -- it was label Parlophone's biggest selling debut since The Beatles' Please Please Me -- and earns extra Britpop points for its title which incorporates Cockney Rhyming Slang.

1. Pulp – Different Class

Having led Pulp to general critical and public indifference since the early-'80s, Jarvis Cocker put the group on hold to study film at London's Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, where he had his mind expanded by raves and met Steve Mackey who would help usher in a new, more formidable lineup of the band. (He also met a girl from Greece with a thirst for knowledge who studied sculpture, memories of which would come in handy later.) With the '90s, Cocker's lyrical observations became sharper, his stage presence more assured, and Pulp's glammy disco snapped into sharp focus. 1994's His N' Hers was their best yet by a mile, but it did not prepare the world for the record Pulp would release the next year, a massive leap forward that had Cocker and Pulp working at the height of their powers and that perfectly aligned with Peak Britpop. His time at Saint Martin's College was inspiration for "Common People," a tale of upper class slumming that would quickly become Pulp's signature anthem. The album, Different Class, followed suit with 11 more brilliant tales of Misshapes, mistakes, and misfits, including: "Disco 2000," one of a few unrequited love songs here, this one set to a riff nicked from Laura Brannigan's "Gloria"; "Sorted for E's and Wizz" found Jarvis out of his head at a rave; and "Monday Morning" laid out the drudgery of mid-'20s endless post-college partying against ska backing. The hooks are plentiful and the quotable lines are endless, and while the record is exceedingly British it is somehow relatable to anyone who's ever felt out of place. "Blur Vs Oasis" may have been the hot topic in the British press in 1995, but Different Class rendered the debate instantly moot.