The Darling Buds

The Darling Buds' ebullient songs, packed with bright melodies, frank lyrics, and cutting guitars, helped form the bridge from C-86 to Brit-pop, and continue to be celebrated with the band's occasional activity. The Welsh group made their recorded debut a year after NME's 1986 cassette snapshot of the British indie scene, and soon placed "It's All Up to You" and "Shame on You" in the Top Five of the U.K. independent chart. Signed to major-label Epic (and Sony-distributed Columbia in the U.S.), their driving first album, Pop Said... (1989), produced a Top 40 pop hit with "Hit t...