The Futureheads

The Sunderland quartet, named after one of The Flaming Lips' albums, are most recognised for their fast-paced tracks (more noticeable in the early part of their career) and non-serious attitude to the music industry. Their brand of quick post-punk revival from their self-titled debut was developed for their future releases, where they moved away from songs under two minutes. Decent Days And Nights, from their first album, is below.

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Fujiya & Miyagi

The Brighton fourpiece, named after a record player brand and The Karate Kid's teacher, are most noticeably categorised by the dark, depressed vocals of lead guitarist David Best; the group are a prime example of an English revival of the krautrock genre. Knickerbocker, the lead single from latest album Lightbulbs, is below.

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Friendly Fires

Although categorised as an alternative dance or dance-punk group, the St. Albans trio are actually a highly diverse group. Within their debut self-titled, there's elements of shoegaze and alternative rock, along with their categorised genres; there's most likely something for everyone on the album. One of their more alt. rock tracks, On Board, can be viewed below.

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The Fratellis

The Glaswegian three piece are best recognised for their powerful sound, best summed up in their sporting anthem Chelsea Dagger and Henrietta, which is below. However, on tracks such as Ole Black 'n' Blue Eyes and Whistle For The Choir, they are more melodic and softer. A nice debut, if somewhat very "samey" at times.

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Franz Ferdinand

Hailed as one of the more recent influential acts in the alternative rock and post-punk revival genres, the Glaswegian four-piece have become best recognised for their direct delivery, especially from lead vocalist and guitarist Alex Kapranos. A sometimes fun band, their most recent effort Tonight: Franz Ferdinand strays away from the standard alt. rock sounds of their first two albums and delves into more electronic territory. Their debut single, Darts Of Pleasure, is below.

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Foals

The Oxford quintet's music can be described as intricate math rock, although their most recent album Total Life Forever has attempted to stray away from a math sound to a post-rock sound. Nevertheless, their first album is both chaotic (examples are Cassius and Two Steps Twice) and melodic (Heavy Water and Electric Bloom), and is also a math rock essential. Their second non-album single, the cunningly titled Mathletics, is below.

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Flairs

Some musicians today try to be ultra-serious about their music, making all their songs sound as serious as possible, while others just really make music as a hobby, and consequently just toy around with it. Anglo-Frenchman Lionel Rault falls into the latter category. His album, Sweat Symphony, isn't a seriously focused album; he jokes about a bit at times (with the track R.E. Balls being one of these examples, with its innuendo chorus of "Hey R.E. Balls are my best friends") but through the jokes there is some focused electro rock going on. Better Than Prince is below.

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The Feeling

The Sussex five-piece are best recognised for their upbeat tones in the majority of their tracks; they really are an example of a feel-good band whose aim to be as positive as they can be, and they do this with flying colours. Fill My Little World is below.

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