What was Cool Cymru?
Short Answer
Cool Cymru was Wales’ answer to Cool Britannia. Same decade, same swagger, but with fewer Union Jacks and far better accents.
Long Answer
While England was busy slapping the Union Jack on everything short of the Queen’s corgis, Wales quietly built its own cultural moment. Cool Cymru wasn’t a reaction. It was a renaissance. Born out of frustration, identity, and the stubborn refusal to be background noise in someone else’s story.
The music led the charge. Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Catatonia, Super Furry Animals. Bands that didn’t sound like London. Didn’t want to. They sang in Welsh, in valleys drawls, about politics, alienation, and whatever Cerys Matthews felt like shouting that day. It wasn’t just style. It had teeth. The Manics wore military chic and quoted Richey Edwards like scripture. Super Furries turned techno-insanity into protest songs. And Catatonia managed to make Top of the Pops feel like a local pub gig with better lighting.
But it wasn’t just music. It was the rise of Welsh language media. Film. Art. Identity being reclaimed one track and one TV segment at a time. The devolution vote passed in 1997. A Welsh Assembly was on the way. For once, it didn’t feel like a punchline. It felt like momentum.
Of course, London tried to co-opt it. Slapped the “Cool” label on it and hoped no one noticed they were late to the party again. But Cool Cymru was never really about being cool. It was about being seen. Heard. Taken seriously.
So what was Cool Cymru? A cultural moment. A raised eyebrow from the valleys. And proof that the best parts of the ’90s didn’t always come from Camden.
