Okay, just to make it simple:
In the 60’s/70’s I was into the Beatles.
then in the 80’s it was XTC and Squeeze.
then in the 90’s it was Oasis, and more recently, Blur and The Beautiful South.
Where do I go next?
I realize my definition of Britpop may be different than the standard definition, but hopefully you see what I am going for by the examples above.
I would also be willing to consider American acts if they have that similar sound: extremely melodic, great lyrics, good singers, etc.
The Beautiful South were definitely an early '90s thing. They emerged from The Housemartins, who were far more political (but better nonetheless) and most famous for the bittersweet “Happy Hour”. Interesting fact: while Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray went from The Housemartins to The Beautiful South, bassist Norman Cook (born Quentin Cook) went on to become Fatboy Slim.
Sorry. Where was I?
Britpop’s heyday was around 1993-1997. It’s pretty much a complete non-event now. Oasis and Blur are off most people’s radars these days. Shame, since that era defined my music tastes to a degree. I suppose you could also add Kingmaker, the Boo Radleys, Lush, Menswear, Mansun, Suede and a million other bands to the list from Nocturne.
I suppose for current bands you’d include Travis, Embrace, Starsailor, Stereophonics (etc). The current choice is a lot blander now (IMHO), but you still get some decent tunes out of Ian Brown, South etc. Melodic, spiky guitar indie just isn’t as popular at the moment, sadly. I’d also recommend the Belgian group Soulwax, who are among the more interesting ‘Britpop’ style bands around today (particularly the singles Conversation Intercom and Much Against Everyone’s Advice). Retro-electro is probably as common in new indie bands – Ladytron, Add N To X and so on.