[5][6] The word was re-fashioned by the group Pop Will Eat Itself that represented a brand of United Kingdom subculture of the late 1980s and early 1990s, largely based in the English Midlands.
In this period, the scene's bands became fixtures, sometimes headliners, at Reading Festival, sold millions of albums and were frequently featured on the covers of magazines like NME and Melody Maker.
The scene came to include the stylistically similar bands of nearby Leicester: the Bomb Party, Gaye Bykers on Acid, Crazyhead, the Hunters Club and Scum Pups.
[10] For the most part, it was a style of indie rock which drew influences from a diverse array of genres, including electronic, punk, folk, hip-hop music,[10] dance-rock, psychedelia[15] and pop.
"[18] While Gaye Bykers on Acid's use of hip-hop and dance beats was considered as "a major innovation in mid-'80s alternative rock,"[19] Ned's Atomic Dustbin focused on "the hyper punk aspect" of the movement, relying on "catchy hooks and a dual-bass sound.