In early 90s England, the British intelligence agency MI6 undertook two related but very different experiments in cultural programming aimed at boosting the international standing of the faded empire. One was Britpop, the seemingly grass-roots soundtrack of Cool Britannia championed by music tabloids Melody Maker and the NME and practiced by groups such as Pulp, Blur, and Oasis, which ultimately succeeded. The other, failed experiment was an attempt to create a post-grunge super-soldier by combining scraps of Kurt Cobains flannel with marrow removed from Kate Moss cheekbones. The result was Gavin Rossdale, a third-rate pretty boy guitar slinger with more hair product and bedroom eyes than actual tunes. Although quickly abandoned, the project was at least successful in neutralizing the US own top-secret ska bomb Gwen Stefani. With Dead Sara. ERIC GRANDY
Thu., Sept. 15, 8 p.m., 2011
