I discovered the UK band Hefner sometime in 2000, when a friend pointed me at their song “I stole a Bride“, one of the few pop songs to be written about the Trojan War and the abduction of Helena by Paris. I quite like their sound, sort of indie but with a bit more bite than a band Like say Belle and Sebastian and clever but not too pretentious lyrics. Their best album was We Love the City, released in 2000, sort of a thematic ode to London, which sort of captures my feelings about London as well.
The band is no longer active, but their site is still up. The best part of it is the discography, with extensive notes by Darren Hayman, the driving force behind the band. I wish more bands took the trouble to do something like this.
Darren Hayman since then has started a new band, The french with one of his Hefner mates, which has abandonded the indie sound Hefner had for most of its existence, instead going for a more early electronica feel. A sample of their work can be downloaded from their site, again something I wouldn’t mind more other bands doing.