My Top 1000 Songs #971: Inbetweener

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

I largely sat out the Britpop boom in the 90s. Sure, a few big names got through (Oasis, Blur, Pulp), but even there I didn't know them much beyond the obvious hits; my attention was much more focused on US indie acts like Pavement, Yo La Tengo, Liz Phair, Wilco, Luna, Sleater-Kinney, etc. But a decade or so ago I finally circled back and snagged a lot of the records I overlooked at the time (or which had completely evaded the US market). One of my favorite bands of this ilk were Sleeper, who remind me a bit of Elastica (who did break through a bit over here). They're even more British-sounding, a sensibility that doesn't necessarily translate for my Americanized ears, but vocalist Louise Wener has a compelling blend of charm and toughness that snagged my attention.

While there's a lot of great music in their brief discography, the opening track on their 1995 debut Smart was pretty tough to match. "Inbetweener" is full of killer, melodic hooks, just one listen more than enough to make you slap your head and wonder how this band didn't get more (stateside) attention at the time.

Top of the Pops:

Live, reunion tour: