If summer 1995 can be pinpointed as Britpop’s peak, then its 30th anniversary was celebrated in some style. Oasis dominated, naturally, but there were triumphant shows beyond the Gallagher brothers’ monumental return including new music and stellar live performances from Pulp, Supergrass heading out on a giddy run to mark 30 years of their cavorting debut I Should Coco, Cast finally getting a lot of love after years of being very good in the here and now, Richard Ashcroft accepting that he should play loads of Verve songs in his set instead of ropey solo stuff and Suede shaking off all the nostalgia and releasing some forward-facing urgent indie anthems instead. It was all going on, the big absentees being Blur – but they got the spotlight all to themselves with their mega Wembley Stadium gigs in 2023. But Britpop wasn’t just about the big hitters, it was a cultural phenomenon a little more expansive and dynamic than it has been given credit for in the intervening years. It wasn’t all lads and Loaded, you know. A lot of the bands have seized their second chance in the spotlight, patching up their differences to head out on reunion tours, but for some it will likely never be an option. Here’s ten Britpop bands you’ll never see reuniting (that statement is not legally binding)...
Elastica
The most supernaturally cool frontperson of Britpop, Justine Frischmann co-founded Suede, helping to shape their early glam-rock-on-fire sound, and then left to form her own band in Elastica. Their 1995 debut is a thrilling meld of post-punk grooves, swooping melodic hooks and detached, eyerolling vocals that sounds just as brilliant now as it did then. Their 2000 second album couldn’t match it and they split in 2001. After discovering M.I.A, Frischmann moved to the US and became an artist, an outlet for her creativity that’s meant she’s never had any need to return to reform her old band. “I don’t really have any desire to make music,” she told The Guardian in 2016. “I really feel I’ve found my medium.”
Longpigs
Similarly, Sheffield’s Longpigs were another brilliant band with a blend of rousing anthems and affecting ballads that sounded like they’d been infected with the DNA of Radiohead’s The Bends who were stymied by a lacklustre second effort. After they split in 2000, guitarist Richard Hawley joined Pulp and then became a solo success whilst frontman Crispin Hunt has mixed a career in politics and music industry roles with songwriting and producer credits with Jake Bugg, Ellie Goulding, Florence + The Machine and more. The likelihood of either going back to base is low.
Mansun
Chester quartet Mansun were one of Britpop’s most inventive groups, releasing a sprawling, adventurous and hook-laden debut in Attack Of The Grey Lantern, a more sprawling, more adventurous but not so-hook-laden second album in Six and then a dud in their third record Little Kix. They split soon after - a reminder of just how good they could be can be found in the collection of brilliant B-sides and non-album tracks on Disc Two of their 2004 Kleptomania release. But that will be that – despite frontman Paul Draper forging a career as a producer and a solo artist, it appears the rest of the band want nothing to do with music anymore, with certain members unequivocal about having anything to do with Draper.
Heavy Stereo
The frontman of Durham quartet Heavy Stereo might have cut ties with his former band but Gem Archer is certainly still involved in music – on the biggest scale possible, in fact. Archer joined Oasis soon after the dissolution of his band, forming Beady Eye with Liam Gallagher after they split and then switching sides and teaming up with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. He’s back with both this summer for Oasis’ reunion shows. The man has just played five nights at Wembley Stadium, with two more to come. Heavy Stereo had a few decent stomping rock’n’roll numbers but there’s no need, and Gem probably knows it.
Kenickie
I can completely empathise with the reason that Sunderland quartet Kenickie have never reformed. They were an exuberant indie-punk quartet who released two solid records, split, and then their singer and guitarist Lauren Laverne went on to become one of the UK’s best-loved broadcasters and radio presenters. I was in a crap band, we split, I realised I was a marginally better music journalist, managed to blag a career out of it and now here I am writing this list. We’re like soulmates, Lauren!
The Seahorses
John Squire had no issue going back to The Stone Roses for their giant comeback shows in 2012, the baggy icons all getting on again until they didn’t. But it’s hard to see him ever having the inclination to reignite the rebound band (their name is an anagram of He Hates Roses) he formed with a York busker. Basically, what Squire needed at this point was not a York busker but Liam Gallagher – that’s exactly what the songs were going for. Gallagher, of course, was busy being in Oasis at the time. The stars finally aligned when Squire and Gallagher teamed up for a record last year, a project that put the idea of The Seahorses to bed once and for all.
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