Are Placebo Britpop?
Short Answer
No. Placebo were around at the same time, but Britpop wouldn’t have touched them with a ten-foot eyeliner pencil.
Long Answer
Placebo emerged in 1996, right in the middle of Britpop’s chart-dominating prime. But they sounded like they’d just escaped from somewhere darker. Where Britpop was cheeky and nostalgic, Placebo were androgynous, abrasive, and openly miserable. It was a different kind of theatre. Less Carry On, more Cronenberg.
Brian Molko didn’t sing about council estates or park life. He sang about heroin, sex, and self-hate. He looked like someone Blur might cross the street to avoid. And that was the point. Placebo weren’t trying to be the voice of the nation. They were trying to be the voice in your head when the nation had stopped listening.
Musically, they owed more to glam, goth, and grunge than they ever did to the Beatles. Lyrically, they were about isolation, not identity. They didn’t want to reclaim the Union Jack. They wanted to set fire to it and snog someone on the ashes.
They played the same festivals, sure. Got some of the same NME coverage. But they were never part of the Britpop club. If Blur were the party, Placebo were the cold walk home after.
So no, Placebo weren’t Britpop. They were the shadow crawling behind it, reminding you that not everyone wanted to be cheeky, blokey, or nostalgic. Some people just wanted the truth, with a side of eyeliner and feedback.
