The La's

The product of frontman Lee Mavers's obsessive quest for the perfect sound—which allegedly included sprinkling dust preserved from the ’60s across the studio—the Liverpudlians’ sole album laid the foundations for Britpop. “There She Goes” is the beautiful, tugging centrepiece but every note counts on a set of compact masterpieces that echo Merseybeat (“Feelin’”), The Who (“I Can’t Sleep”) and folk (“Liberty Ship”). This is a band so governed by the power of an exquisite pop tune that they made a song about it (the gently psychedelic “Timeless Melody”). The reclusive Mavers dismissed the album as "a snake with a broken back" and largely vanished but he left behind a hugely influential work of British guitar music.