THE TOP 40 BANDS IN GREAT BRITAIN TODAY
5.
Roots Manuva
British rap has often been in awe of its American forebear, but Roots Manuva
has changed that. Roots - Rodney Smith to his mum - claims that Ian Dury and
Chas and Dave have influenced his rap as much as Public Enemy, while his
backing tracks mix Brixton reggae with Depeche Mode. So far, he has only
grazed the charts (with 2001's Dreamy Days), but his influence is incalculable
and he opened the doors for the Streets, Dizzee Rascal et al. Simply, Roots
has demonstrated that singing in a British accent isn't uncool. Equally, he
has shown rap a subject-matter away from US ghettos, sex and guns. His
brilliant flows make everything from drug culture to vagrancy, religion, beans
on toast and "10 pints ah bitta" sound as exotic and entrancing as anything
from the US. Sound:18
Songs:17 Gigs: 13 Style:15 Attitude:19
6. Blur
Their
name may have been picked under duress from a record company shortlist of
meaningless epithets, but it suits them. Blur are all about velocity. Whether
you consider Damon Albarn a mercurial genius or a dexterous dilettante, he
never sits still, the only constant being a passionate belief that pop and art
are not mutually exclusive. A full decade after they drew Britpop's battle
lines, Blur are immersed in playful junk-shop funk and plaintive ballads on a
seventh album, Think Tank, which may be their finest yet. Sound:15 Songs:18
Gigs: 18 Style:15 Attitude:15
7.
Mis-Teeq
Britain's answer to Destiny's Child (albeit with a penchant for PVC jerkins),
Mis-Teeq have long since outpaced the garage scene that created them. It's
hard to believe this
primped
and polished - but utterly cool - trio were raised in south and west London.
There's a Gothic eeriness to hits like Scandalous and One Night Stand that
differentiates them from their US counterparts. Until they start hankering for
solo careers, the future is shiny. Sound:15 Songs:16 Gigs: 16 Style:17
Attitude:15 Total: 79
8. The
Darkness
Proving, as Adam Ant said, that ridicule is nothing to be scared of, the
Darkness sashayed out of Lowestoft to give glam-metal a 21st-century voice.
Though their spandex leotards and high-decibel pounding appear to be a style
magazine's idea of a prank, they are serious enough about it to have sold
450,000 copies of debut album Permission to Land in three months. They may
last only until Justin Hawkins's hysterical falsetto gives out, but every
ludicrous bite should be savoured. Sound:10 Songs:14 Gigs:15 Style:19
Attitude:20
9. The
Streets
He looks like a naughty schoolboy and sounds like a rascal, his days one long
blur of PlayStation, dope and too much brandy. But in putting that
lackadaisical life to a soundtrack of cheap bleeps and Casio melodies, Mike
Skinner pushed UK garage to a whole new level. Last year's debut, Original
Pirate Material, exuded wit as it chronicled the warts-and-all life of one
cocky, unreliable, skint, very British lad. It will be thrilling to see where
this cheeky, utterly engaging geezer goes next. Sound:20 Songs:17 Gigs:11
Style:10 Attitude:19
10.
David Bowie
One of rock's pivotal style icons and innovators, Bowie's major achievements (Ziggy
Stardust, Young Americans, Low, Heroes et al) have involved remodelling fringe
ideas for the mainstream. By the 1980s, having explored glam rock, androgyny,
astral travel, "plastic soul", synthesisers and cocaine, he was exhausted, and
by the 90s he had panicked into following trends (notably drum'n'bass for
1997's Earthling). Recently, however, Heathen (2002) and Reality (2003)
received glowing reviews. Fans have speculated whether the twin-colour-eyed
genius is an alien life-form, a theory given credence by the fact that, at 56,
he looks better than he did in 1975. Sound:16 Songs:14 Gigs:18 Style:15
Attitude:13