As one of the first Britpop bands, these college blokes from Colchester started out making shoegaze and baggy jams in the Scene that Celebrates Itself before writing a genre-defining album that romanticized British life and paved the way for an indie explosion. They were the UK’s favorite band, that is, until they weren’t. They may have lost the Britpop war, but their third act was brilliant nonetheless. The Ringer’s Chris Ryan joins us to talk about the band who turned toward Britain and solidified a scene, and the ways they ultimately broke out of their own (Brit) box. Follow along as we trace the band’s breakups and makeups, while exploring their sonic evolution from shoegaze to Britpop to alt-rock.

SKIP AHEAD: 7:22 – Band formation 45:51 – Sign to Food Records; ‘She’s So High’ single 1:03:59 – Leisure 1:31:04 – Modern Life is Rubbish 1:45:19 – ‘Girls & Boys’ single 1:54:27 – Parklife 2:25:40 – Chart Battle 2:36:25 – The Great Escape 2:51:14 – Blur (self-titled album) 3:04:01 – Britpop dies 3:05:40 – 13 3:15:49 – Think Tank 3:24:19 – The Magic Whip 3:28:03 – The Ballad of Darren

EPISODE PLAYLIST: Listen to songs we detail in the episode ⁠HERE⁠

CREDITS: Host: Yasi Salek @yasisalek Guests: Chris Ryan @crashactivated Producer: Liz Sánchez @lizbetsanch Audio Editor: Adrian Bridges Additional Production Supervision: Justin Sayles Theme Song: Bethany Cosentino Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices