Guitarist. Blur’s secret weapon. Britpop’s outsider. Shy genius with a pedalboard.

Blur’s bassist. Britpop’s posh boy. Cheese magnate. Professional anecdote in human form.

Blur’s drummer. Britpop’s grown-up. Tech nerd. Lawyer. Politician.

What is Leisure? Blur’s debut. A band trying to find itself while the scene collapsed around them.

Blur’s second album. A band finding their voice.

Blur’s third album. A piss-take. A love letter.

Blur’s fourth album. The comedown in a suit. Sharp, bitter, and grinning through its teeth.

Blur’s fifth album. Viva American Sounds.

Blur’s sixth album. The breakup record.

Blur’s biggest single. A cartoon about excess that accidentally became one.

Oasis’s 1995 single. Or how to lose a battle but win the war.

Yes. And they thought everyone else was wasting their time.

Yes. But they’d rather you didn’t ask.

Yes. They had the best moves too.

Yes. They lit the fire, then acted like it was someone else's mess.

No. They showed up after closing time and started whispering.

Britpop was the early to mid-1990s, when British guitar bands made music that sounded like home. Noisy, witty, ambitious. It collapsed under the weight of its own success.

Britpop was the early to mid-1990s, when British guitar bands made music that sounded like home. Noisy, witty, ambitious. It collapsed under the weight of its own success.

Stuart Maconie. Oh, was it John Robb?

Cool Britannia was a marketing slogan in a tracksuit. It looked like culture but mostly smelled like PR.