In the early 80’s, I was enthralled by the deluge of UK and European acts that filled my cassette rack– including Duran Duran, Kim Wilde, Culture Club, Propaganda, Thomas Dolby, and A Flock of Seagulls. I was aware that a band called The Beatles led a similar invasion when my mom was my age, but could have cared less – I was raised on Wings dammit.
Brit Pop in the 90’s was my official second wave from the Mother Land, and then came the early 2000’s when European Acts like Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, and the Libertines seamlessly formed a cohesive indie rock scene with NYC’s Interpol, The Strokes, and the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. 2024 felt like the second coming of the second coming, with a Murderer’s Row of new UK bands breaking through.
Perhaps the reason why such a little land mass has such a huge export of colossal music acts is they’ve got the best built-in infrastructure to promote musical talent. Specialty newspapers NME and Melody Maker shine as much light on upstart indie acts as they do superstars, unlike the States where you have to move millions of units before splashing on a magazine cover (I mean, Dr. Hook wrote a whole song about it).
For decades, the BBC and UK pirate radio allowed tastemakers like John Peel, Janice Long, and Jools Holland to mint overnight stars, unlike the States where conglomerates like IHeartRadio mine data to detect burnout rates to mandate narrow, superstar-focused playlists for DJs. Then there’s the competitions like The Mercury Prize, BBC Sound of (any given year), and the BRITS that have a much better track record of recognizing talent than the Grammys’ cursed “best new artist” trophy.
While British artists land in most every post in this 2024 Rewind series – here are a few of this year’s leading contenders.
Had I been ranking albums this year, The Waeve’s City Lights, would have landed at #1 or #2. Residents from my British Waves #2 (Graham Coxon of Blur) and #3 (Rose Elinor Dougall of The Pipettes) found their zone with their sophomore outing, delivering a spectacular tour de force that ranks alongside Parklife among the best albums of the Blur Extended Universe (including Gorillaz). Throughout the album, surprising key changes, fascinating vocal arrangements, masterful lyricism and stellar musicianship captivate at every turn. Thanks to Spotify, we live in a singles world and yet, albums like City Lights demand and reward a complete sequential listen start to finish, carrying the torch for The Coral’s 1-2 punch Sea of Mirrors/Holy Joe’s Coral Island Medicine Show in 2023 and The Weeknd’s Dawn FM the year prior.
RAYE (Rachel Agatha Keen) has an origin story on par with Chappell Roan, an undeniable talent that the record labels had no idea how to market. Her long-overdue album, My 21st Century Blues, dropped last year and swept the 2024 BRITS. Her second concert LP within a year, Live @ Montreux, is the perfect entry point for newbies, providing testament to RAYE’s Amy Winehouse meets James Brown sense of showpersonship. RAYE accomplished all of this at the tender age of 27 (the same age when Ms. Winehouse left the building). In the years to come, she is on-track to reach or exceed Beyonce-levels of artistic achievement.
Blitz Vega has deep roots in my first and second British Waves. Kav Sandhu, a late-term axeman for Happy Mondays, partnered with the late Andy Rourke of The Smiths, to create a raucous and impassioned opus that serves as a farewell and legacy builder for a true icon. At times, you can hear traces of Oasis and The Psychedelic Furs in the songs. Hearing compressed MP3 level files on Spotify did little to move me, but once I unpacked the mixes with lossless .wav files, whoa Nelly did this album crackle. If you need an entry point, one of my favorite writers, Lyndsey Parker (AXS-TV, Lyndsanity) posted a touching interview with Kav to honor Andy.
Fat Dog is a London 5-piece with a notoriously bonkers live show. Their debut album, Woof., is one of the most deliriously gonzo sonic experiences ever pressed into wax. While they look like background extras straight out of Trainspotting, their sound recklessly careens from peak Wax Trax inspired Industrial dance floor megahits (Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, etc.) to 80’s hair metal, to sledgehammer indie rock. A new post-album single just dropped, ‘Peace Song’ (featured in the kickoff post of this series), showcasing their slightly softer side of sneers.
Finally – two bands that absolutely owned the first quarter of 2024 – which to be honest feels like a million years ago.
Ireland’s NewDad steps into the shadowy nightclubbing shoegaze scene with a dollop of The Sundays’ gorgeous melancholy and the early-discography mystery of Lush. NewDad is perhaps the quietest band to ever be that loudly hyped before a debut album ever dropped. Thankfully, both Madra and worldwide tour to support it, balanced rapturous fan appreciation without losing the intimacy, keeping their deliriously melodic songs drenched in an ethereal, chill, haunted, and dreamy vibe.
The Last Dinner Party is the exact opposite, bringing Marie Antoinette theatrical bombast to their arena-sized stage show that most bands take a decade to build up to. This all-woman band (save for studio and touring drummers) formed during COVID and opened for the Rolling Stones before they even had a single out. Check out the personnel section of the Prelude to Ecstasy album Wiki page to see just how many string and brass players joined in on the sessions and you can begin to gauge the scope and ambition of the album.
Both acts have already released follow-ups. NewDad singer Julie Dawson dropped a charming solo LP, Bottom of the Pool, in the fall, within weeks of an expanded deluxe of Prelude to Ecstasy featuring b-sides, acoustic, and live tracks just as the band made their official film debut:
Up next, The New Power Pop Generation (2024’s Best Retro Rock)
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