Roaring ’90s: Britpop icon Blur solidifies place as international rock stars
British band Blur has adapted with the times, changing its style from grunge rock to now include Chinese and Korean sounds. “The Magic Whip” is the band’s latest album and was recorded in just five days. (Courtesy of Linda Brownlee)
By Emily McCormick
Oct. 19, 2015 12:16 a.m.
The world of mainstream music is constantly transforming as new artists, styles and trends are embraced with each passing year. In spite of these changes, some musicians have maintained their popularity across decades, reinventing their sounds and careers. Each week, A&E columnist Emily McCormick will discuss the evolution of ’90s artists who have carried the spirit of their decade into today’s music scene.
Britain in 1995 was a war zone.
The combatants were Blur and Oasis, two bands vying to be the top dog of British music. The stakes were high: They weren’t just fighting for fans, but they were fighting to be deemed the defining musical act of the decade, the country and the Britpop genre.
Oasis certainly put up a good fight – I admittedly can still sing all the lyrics to “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova” – however, the dust has settled and Blur is the band left standing. Oasis broke up in 2009, but Blur is still blasting Britpop to this day. In fact, they’ll be performing at the Hollywood Bowl Tuesday.
In the ’90s, Blur fought hard not only to outdo other Britpop artists, but also to out-rock the grunge scene in America. As Blur saw it, the American pop culture scene was vapid and superficial, and the grunge era was just another incident of America watering down true art and rock ‘n’ roll. Before eventually being named “Modern Life is Rubbish,” Blur’s ’93 album was almost called “Britain Versus America.”
Blur’s anti-grunge efforts were successful: “Modern Life is Rubbish,” “Parklife” and “The Great Escape” were a trio of albums that brought British culture back in vogue at a level it hadn’t achieved since ‘60s Beatlemania.
As Under the Radar Magazine put it, Blur single-handedly made it cool to be British again.
Blur’s early style was proudly parochial, with the members belting out songs without covering up the twang of their middle-class accents and with lyrics full of references to Camden in Northern London.
Blur had come to symbolize British music, but it wasn’t afraid of sailing out of the British Isles. With its self-titled ’97 album, the band shifted away from strict Britpop by incorporating the heavy distortion of lo-fi and driving guitar riffs of punk rock. In “Think Tank” in 2003, Blur went even further, experimenting with world music, like African rhythms.
Thanks to its musical expansion, Blur came up with its greatest hit, “Song 2.” Known popularly as the “woo-hoo” song for the whooping in its chorus, the spunky single has more edge than Blur’s previous, exclusively Britpop pieces. Ask me the first song I imagine when I think of Blur, and “Song 2” is the immediate answer.
Initially, Blur’s artistic shift may have come as an unexpected twist to fans, but widening its musical lens was strategic. Blur was finally identifiable – both name-recognizable and relatable – even by the Americans it had once so stubbornly rebelled against.
And thank goodness they eventually crossed the Atlantic, otherwise I might never have found Blur myself. Listening to classics like “Parklife,” I am transported. I may as well be sitting in Hyde Park or traversing the streets of London myself.
Now, Blur is still the British music group it’s always been, but just a little more sophisticated. Whether commenting on British youth in “Parklife” or renouncing the Iraq War in “Think Tank,” Blur is a band with both local and international perspective.
Blur’s latest album is similarly astute. “The Magic Whip,” released in April, was recorded in just five days during an unexpected break during the band’s 2013 Hong Kong tour – because apparently the obvious thing to do with a couple days of downtime is to crank out 12 new songs.
As much as I love mid-’90s Blur, I’m even more excited about their new direction in “The Magic Whip.” It proves Blur still possesses creative spirit and an admirable desire to add to their oeuvre instead of just replaying old fan favorites.
As with previous albums, “The Magic Whip” is deeply a product of Blur’s surroundings. This time, they’ve thrown Chinese-and-Korean-inspired musical and thematic elements into the mix.
The band is without a doubt still a ’90s Britpop staple, but with a few musical tweaks, a handful of ventures out of Britain and a couple of “woo-hoos,” Blur has managed to stay in focus through the years.
