Verse, Chorus, Monster! by Graham Coxon review – Britpop’s unlikely lad

In a disarmingly candid memoir, the Blur guitarist relates the madness of fame and habit, his unease with Britpop, and how people led him to greener pastures

As Blur bossed the 90s, and Damon Albarn’s bouncy songs about Englishness came to exemplify Britpop, Graham Coxon might often be found scowling behind the band’s group photographs. Coxon’s MO as their guitarist typically concerned lobbing “anti-solos” into the machinery, the band’s sceptical counterweight.

The two had met at college in Colchester, Essex, decamping to artwork school in London where they found themselves at the centre of two artistic actions: the Goldsmiths’ artwork set that might develop into the YBAs, and the bands who would spearhead a new sound. One glance at the music press back then would have revealed that Coxon, bespectacled, sharp and into American music as much as the Kinks, was not all the time thrilled at his band’s course of travel.