Are Suede Britpop?
Short Answer
Suede were Britpop before it had a name. Then they watched it become a cartoon and quietly backed out the fire escape.
Long Answer
Suede were the prototype. The rough sketch before the marketing department traced over it in brighter colours. They had the look, the sound, and the arrogance. They draped themselves in Britishness, sure, but it wasn’t the flag-waving kind. It was bins in the rain, sexual ambiguity, and a kitchen full of broken dreams. Brett Anderson sang like Bowie doing Morrissey in a bedsit, and for a brief, brilliant moment, that was enough.
By the time Britpop became a battlefield between Blur and Oasis, Suede had already moved on. Dog Man Star was too weird, too lush, too European for the Union Jack brigade. It was a gorgeous sulk at a party full of blokes chanting “Parklife”. They never fit the scene because they were too busy feeling things the scene would later parody.
So yes, Suede were Britpop. But only in the way the Velvet Underground were pop. They lit the match, watched it catch, and then wandered off while everyone else got excited about the fire.
