(Credits: Far Out / Circa Records / The Sundays / Strangelove )
Tue 17 March 2026 13:30, UK
While never spoken about to the same extent as the likes of Manchester, Glasgow or Leeds, whose respective musical outputs tend to be treated with a sense of overwhelming reverence and pride, there’s a definite case to be made for Bristol as being an equally important cultural hub outside of London.
While post-punk was certainly a prominent force towards the end of the 1970s and into the ‘80s with the emergence of acts like The Pop Group and Rip, Rig and Panic, it was the transition into the 1990s that truly put Bristol on the map with the burgeoning trip-hop, drum and bass and acid house underground scenes. Following the soundsystem collective of The Wild Bunch based in the neighbourhoods of St Paul’s and Montpelier, acts like Massive Attack, Nellee Hooper, and DJ Milo emerged as prominent figures in the city’s creative underbelly.
Things didn’t just stop at the turn of the millennium either, with modern acts like Idles and Katy J Pearson still flying the flag for the South West city, and the rich musical history of the place still rings on in several of the grassroots acts operating in the area today as scenes begin to merge or splinter into new and innovative directions.
As a long-time resident of Bristol, it’s been fascinating to see new faces emerge and attempt to maintain its status as a city with its finger firmly on the pulse, but what’s more fascinating is how the new blends with the old, and how people are still proud of the heritage and legacy left behind by those from previous eras. Bristol still celebrates its past icons, whether that be Roni Size or Bananarama, but perhaps none more so than the bands that were active during its most fruitful decade in the ‘90s.
Though trip-hop may be considered the main export from the city, there were plenty of other trailblazing acts forming throughout the decade in Bristol. With that in mind, we’ve chosen to highlight the five most important groups (apologies to all of the significant soloists) who have come from Bristol during the 1990s.
The five best bands from Bristol from the 1990s: