Gene

Though they emerged alongside the likes of Blur and Oasis during the ‘90s Britpop boom, Gene demonstrated a more sensitive and emotive sensibility than their brash and blokey peers. Following the collapse of his earlier band, The Go Hole, lead singer and songwriter Martin Rossiter formed Gene in London in 1993. He drew inspiration from The Smiths’ jangly brand of melancholy for his own finely honed and often intense songs of romantic yearning. Rather than put them out of step with their competition, the energy and wit of early singles like “For the Dead” and “Haunted By You” made Gene one of the era’s acclaimed new acts, a position they consolidated with the success of their 1995 debut, Olympian. After going for a heavier rock sound on their third album, Revelations, in 1999, Gene returned to the more melodic style that served them the best on 2001’s Libertine, the band’s final album before their amicable split in 2004.