Follow the Thread
01
Pick a band you love
Start with something you already know well — a band from the golden era, or one you've been listening to for years.
02
See who they connect to
We trace the musical DNA — shared influences, sonic similarities, the bands that came before and after.
03
Discover something new
Follow the chain as far as it goes. You might end up somewhere completely unexpected. That's the point.
Eight Paths Through the Music
Oasis: The biggest British band of the 90s. Liam and Noel Gallagher, three classic albums, and a mythology that refuses to die.
The Courteeners: Manchester's most underrated band. Liam Fray writes anthems for ordinary life with a directness that Noel Gallagher would recognise.
The Courteeners carry the Oasis torch more faithfully than almost anyone — big choruses, working-class romanticism, songs that sound best sung by 20,000 people. 'Not Nineteen Forever' is the song Oasis would have written if they'd been from Middleton.
Start with
Slowdive: Reading's finest. Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell created some of the most beautiful music ever made before being dropped by Creation Records in 1995.
Whenyoung: Limerick trio who relocated to London and made one of the most gorgeous debut albums of recent years. Aoife Power's voice is extraordinary.
Whenyoung's 'Reasons to Stay' has the same quality of aching, luminous sadness that made Slowdive's 'Souvlaki' so devastating. The production is cleaner, the songs more direct, but the emotional register is identical — music that sounds like longing made audible.
Start with
The Charlatans: Northwich's finest. Tim Burgess and the band have been making melodic, keyboard-driven indie rock for over thirty years and show no signs of stopping.
Blossoms: Stockport five-piece who emerged fully formed with a debut album of melodic indie pop that sounded like it had been made in 1995. Tom Ogden writes great songs.
Blossoms are the Charlatans' spiritual heirs — the same warm organ tones, the same melodic instincts, the same ability to make guitar pop that sounds effortless. 'Charlemagne' could slot into a Charlatans setlist without anyone noticing.
Start with
Ride: Oxford's greatest export. Andy Bell and Mark Gardener built walls of guitar sound that influenced a generation of bands on both sides of the Atlantic.
Mourn: Barcelona quartet who formed as teenagers and made two albums of ferocious, melodic guitar music before most bands have written their first song.
Mourn have the same combination of melodic clarity and guitar density that made Ride's 'Nowhere' so thrilling. 'Irrational Friend' has the same quality of controlled chaos — you can hear every note but the whole thing feels like it might collapse at any moment.
Start with
Pulp: Sheffield's finest. Jarvis Cocker spent fifteen years in obscurity before 'His 'n' Hers' and 'Different Class' made him the most compelling lyricist in British pop.
Yard Act: Leeds post-punk band fronted by James Smith, whose rapid-fire spoken-word delivery dissects class, aspiration and failure with surgical precision.
James Smith is the closest thing to Jarvis Cocker that British music has produced since Cocker himself. Both are working-class observers with a gift for finding the absurdity and pathos in ordinary life. 'The Overload' is what 'Different Class' would sound like if it had been made in 2022.
Start with
My Bloody Valentine: Kevin Shields spent years perfecting the tremolo arm technique that defined 'Loveless' — still the most sonically overwhelming album in British music.
Beach House: Baltimore duo Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally make music of oceanic depth and beauty. Not British, but the connection is undeniable.
Beach House took the emotional core of MBV — the sense of being submerged in sound, the way melody floats above a dense harmonic bed — and made it more accessible without losing any of the depth. 'Teen Dream' is the gateway. 'Depression Cherry' is where it gets serious.
Start with
Primal Scream: Bobby Gillespie's shape-shifting band dissolved the boundary between rock and dance music on 'Screamadelica' and have never made the same record twice since.
Idles: Bristol's most cathartic band. Joe Talbot writes from a place of genuine pain and the band play with an intensity that borders on overwhelming.
Both bands understand that rock music is most powerful when it's also a communal experience — something that happens between the band and the audience, not just on stage. Primal Scream's 'Loaded' and Idles' 'Danny Nedelko' are forty years apart and feel like the same song.
Start with
The Stone Roses: Ian Brown and John Squire made one perfect album and one flawed masterpiece before imploding. The debut remains one of the greatest British albums ever made.
Fontaines D.C.: Dublin's finest. Grian Chatten writes like a man possessed and the band play like the world is ending. Three essential albums in three years.
The Stone Roses had a quality of absolute conviction — the sense that this band believed completely in what they were doing. Fontaines D.C. have the same quality. 'Dogrel' has the same swagger as the debut, the same sense of a band who know exactly who they are.
Start with
Find Your Entry Point
Not sure where to start? Pick the sound that already speaks to you.
Shoegaze
Guitars as texture, melody as emotion. Start here if you want music that sounds like being underwater.
Post-Punk
Angular guitars, urgent rhythms, words that mean something. The most vital sound in British music right now.
Britpop
Big choruses, British references, the sound of a country briefly believing in itself. More complicated than it looked.
Post-Rock
Instrumental music that builds from silence to overwhelming volume. No words needed.
Ready to go deeper?
The stories behind the music — long reads, histories, and the moments that changed everything.