Whilst not doing anything as dull as trying to reinvent Britpop (how could you and why would you?), you can certainly hear its influence on “Anything,” the new single from JW Paris. As a country, we are awash with tribute bands to that Cool Britannia time, or bands so plagiaristic that they might as well just take a pun-tortured name and join the gravy train. What this London three-piece does instead is write a new chapter – one that projects what Britpop might be doing if it were still a going concern, or if it were just getting going today.
As such, you can hear the shimmer of those earlier influences, from ’60s jangle to late eighties post-punk goes pop. You can detect nods to those times, from Elastica’s infectious indie-punk groove to Albarn‘s lyrical cheeky chappery. But, more importantly, you can also hear the momentum of nearly 30 years of indie growth. All of which makes them sound brilliantly new and still wonderfully accessible —fresh yet familiar.
And if Britpop lyrics were often self-congratulatory, self-absorbed, and self-aggrandizing, “Anything” is, by comparison, refreshingly philosophical, almost to the point of being nihilistic. A search for identity in a world of expectation and chaos, an anthem for the bewildered and dazed in these confusing times, it is the perfect marriage of music that is effortlessly accessible and lyrics that will have you suddenly awake and contemplating their meaning in the wee small hours.
It’s cool, of course, but it’s clever too. Very clever!
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