Recording for the ultra-hip indie label 4AD, Lush shimmered onto the UK music scene in the early 1990s with a series of "shoegazing" singles that owed a lot to bands like Slowdive, setting themselves apart with Miki Berenyi's distinctive vocals. Afte…

Although My Bloody Valentine formed in 1984, their renowned sound didn't coalesce until four years later, with the album ISN'T ANYTHING. Initially a revved-up rock band that featured core members Kevin Shields and Colm O'Ciosoig, MBV truly came into…

Scotland's Cocteau Twins were one of the most distinctive bands to emerge within the splintering rock world of the 1980s. Led by producer, guitarist, and knob-twiddler Robin Guthrie and vocalist Elizabeth Fraser, the Twins explored a landscape of fuz…

Formed in 1989, Slowdive was one of the key figures in the British shoegazer pop movement. As heard on their influential '91 debut album JUST FOR A DAY, the band's sound is full of ethereal vocals, gently overlapping waves of guitar, and an ambient p…

After playing with various local bands, Rob Dickinson (b. 23 July 1965, Norwich, Norfolk, England; vocals) and Brian Futter (b. 7 December 1965, London, England; guitar) instigated the Catherine Wheel in the spring of 1990 by acquiring an eight-track…

Depeche Mode (French for "hurried fashion") was one of the first and best of the British synth-pop bands, combining breathless, melodic pop with perky electronics. With main songwriter Vince Clarke's departure for Yaz, Martin Gore took the reigns, an…

Though '90s intercontinental rock band Garbage first attracted interest due to founder Butch Vig's lofty production resume (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, et al), the group soon earned a reputation (and audience) fully on its own merits. With a wide ran…

The Bristol collective known as Massive Attack arose out of the acid house scene of late-1980s England to become one of the 1990s' greatest innovators. The group has literally changed the face of music every time out. They invented "trip-hop" on thei…

Formed in 1988 by Oxford art college students, the influential quartet Ride was signed to Alan McGee's now-legendary Creation label based on the strength of their live set. Combining distortion-drenched guitars with melodic vocals, frontmen Mark Gard…

In the mid-1990s, the dreamy-but-grooving sound of trip-hop was confined to the U.K. underground until Portishead brought it to the worldwide mainstream. Combining electronics, lush production, Ennio Morricone-like guitar breaks, and angelic singing …

Before Nine Inch Nails, electronic-based rock was often considered devoid of feeling and danger. Leader Trent Reznor merged synths with tortured vocals/lyrics, distorted guitar, and repetitive, slamming rhythms into an unpredictable amalgam, helping …

Morcheeba, popularly known as the "trigger hippie" UK trip-hop combo, comprises Paul Godfrey, Ross Godfrey and Skye Edwards. The Godfrey brothers began working from their home-town of Hythe, Kent, around the early 90s, drawing on a number of influenc…

Scottish brothers Jim and William Reid formed the Jesus & Mary Chain in 1984. With their monotone vocals, feedback-drenched guitar sound, and notoriously chaotic gigs, the band garnered plenty of media attention and then backed up the hype with their…

Born in the early 1980s out of the ashes of U.K. post-punk pioneers Joy Division, New Order became one of the first electro-pop bands to find mainstream success in the US. Their single "Blue Monday" was a landmark in dance music, and subsequent recor…

Diminutive, bald-headed Richard Melville Hall, better known as Moby, achieved greater mainstream success than any other electronica artist by virtue of his willingness to adapt electronic dance music to a well formed pop sensibility. From the '90s on…

Led by depressive pop prince Robert Smith, the Cure have taken their legions of fans on a journey from post-punk to gothic to new wave to art rock, stopping only for refills of hairspray along the way. An amazing band both live and in the studio, the…

Previously known as Shake Appeal, Swervedriver formed at the end of 1989 when Adam Franklin (b. 19 July 1968, Essex, England; vocals, formerly of Oxford hopefuls Satan Knew My Father), Jimmy Hartridge (b. 27 November 1967, Oxfordshire, England; guita…

In its crude initial formation in 1976, Siouxsie & the Banshees consisted of members of the "Bromley contingent," a group of notorious Sex Pistols groupies. In various permutations, the band survived for almost 20 years. Featuring core members Siouxs…

Originally a Go-Gos cover band called Raspberry Bang the Swirlies formed in Boston in 1990 Along with Kudgel and Fat Day the band -- guitaristsinger Damon Tuntunjian singerguitarist Seana Carmody bassist Andy Bernick and drummer Ben Drucker -- was a …

UK synth-pop band formed in 1998 by Daniel Hunt (keyboards/rhythm box), Reuben Wu (keyboards/rhythm box), Mira Aroyo (b. Bulgaria; vocals/keyboards) and Helena Marnie (vocals/keyboards). Ladytron, who take their name from a Roxy Music track, pay homa…