Britpop

Back in the early ’90s, while the flannel-clad sounds of Seattle were percolating around the U.S., bands across the pond were drawing on their past to create something fresh and new in the here and now. They called it Britpop, a deceptively effervescent name for a music with the power to rule Britannia and beyond on the strength of songs that pulsed with the flavor-steeped sweep and flow of the Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony,” scintillated with the high-drama class act of Pulp’s “Common People,” and crackled with the psychedelic transmissions of Spiritualized’s “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space.”

There’s more supersonic, Albionic Britpop in Next Steps.

At first blush, there’s not exactly a lot in common between the ethereal intimacy of “Closer” by Travis, the edgy rock distortion of “Kelly’s Heroes” by Black Grape, and the eloquent narrative of “Come Home Billy Bird” by the Divine Comedy. But that’s kind of the point — the best Britpop is all about celebrating U.K. musical tradition by picking out the parts a band likes best and making them their own. So while Placebo goes glam on “Pure Morning,” Spacehog puts a different twist on the sounds of the ’70s with “In the Meantime,” and Ash looks back to the decade after that with a buzzing, new wave-y “Jack Names the Planets.”

Hit Deep Cuts for more brilliant Britpop.

The best of unsung Britpop bubbles up in Deep Cuts, where we’ve gathered together those worthy combos that don’t always get their fair share of the limelight — bands like Kenickie, who give their fun-loving “Punka” a blast of gleeful punked-up pop. There’s tons more, including Denim’s no-nonsense rocker “Council House,” the rootsy ramble “Get Myself Arrested” by Gomez, and even a spacey stadium blaster: Gay Dad’s “Now, Always and Forever.” And, to close out, a distortion-drenched ’n’ dirty 1993 cover of Suede’s “The Drowners” by artful space-rockers Flying Saucer Attack, which proved that Britpop was never afraid to keep on reinventing itself.

We have to admit it, we’re pretty proud of this one — an entire playlist devoted to the best of Britpop, a catalog of cool Britannia brilliance in one easy download, your one-stop shop for years’ worth of great U.K. sounds. It kicks off with the undisputed heavyweights — Oasis and their pond-hopping, super-smash love song “Wonderwall” — and just keeps going, with everything from Blur’s rowdy groundbreaker “Parklife,” to Elastica’s catalytic rocker “Connection,” to Cornershop’s hook-heavy cultural mixer “Brimful of Asha.” British pop tradition looms large in the gentle hit of ’60s psychedelia that lights up the Beta Band’s “Dry the Rain,” but one listen to a furiously fresh-faced “Alright” by pop-rock perennials Supergrass and it’s clear that this music is its own big deal.