Colchester, UK quintette Blur are the poster boys for the 1990's Britpop movement. Catchy tunes? Check! Sharp guitars and sharper social commentary? Check! Adorable accents? Oh, check! Britpop came about after clever UK guitar bands like The Kinks and The Jam got run through the trendy, druggy Madchester rave-rock scene in the 80's. Blur's first release, Leisure, shows traces of the funky beats characteristic of Madchester bands like The Happy Mondays. Their single "She's So High" caught local attention, Their third album, Parklife, was the Britpop manifesto everyone knew they could make, featuring the New Wave flavored single "Girls & Boys." Parklife era Blur are not going to sing love songs, they're going to viciously critique your bourgeoisie relationship over bouncy guitars. The album yielded a couple other UK singles "Parklife" and "To the End" but, as with many UK acts, it didn't get much action stateside. In 1995, the younger Britpop combo Oasis released their ocean-crossing smash What's the Story (Morning Glory) igniting a bitter rivalry between the bands. In the late 90's, Blur singer Damon Albarn developed an interest in America's lo-fi indie rock scene and the influence of college radio bands like Pavement and Sebadoh is apparent on their 1997 self-titled Blur album. The album confused UK critics but the single "Song #2," with it's raucous "woo-hoo!" chorus, was the US smash hit the band had always wanted. Blur released their dark break-up album 13 in 1999 and the atmospheric, sample-heavy Think Tank in 2003, but have since been on hiatus. Original bassist Graham Coxon left Blur to pursue solo work and Albarn has been rocking out with the highly successful zombie hip hop cartoon collective The Gorillaz.