Shhhh....Wu Lyf are anonymously taking over Britpop

Wu Lyf anonymously chart a new direction in Britpop

Brits support bands much like their favorite football clubs, bringing a fervor and passion that few other nationalities can muster. They also put up a unified front when it comes to acts at the top of the table such as Radiohead, Muse, Coldplay, and recently, Artic Monkeys.  Seeing the latter 2 on Friday at the Green Stage ensures the Union Jack will be flying.

The Britpop passion even extends to bands facing relegation like The Music who are calling it quits after this tour, and the Kaiser Chiefs who are back after a 3-year break.  A friend of mine who DJs the UK Beat Show here in Taiwan has been chirping their praises for weeks, quipping their new album as “a return to form,” and an “epic”  gig  recently at Isle of Wight.

Honestly, I never drank from Britpop’s technicolored kool-aid, preferring the deeper, muddier depths of grunge.  Many music critics have asserted Britpop is a direct reaction to grunge, though few thought it would continue with so many permutations and with such longevity.

I was prepared to write the genre off entirely until I came across Wu Lyf, a Manchester, not Madchester, band which embraces the messy politics of grunge, and its counter culture G8 hating, World Bank bashing radicalism. Musically, Wu Lyf may be little more than a radical, hipper version of The XX, but they are starting fires and converting a fans such as myself which have otherwise been put off by the Britpop establishment.