St. Etienne, Foxbase Alpha
There is cool… and then there is Sarah Cracknell Cool. The debut album by the British pop trio — which paved the way for the “alt-pop” sound that’s everywhere in 2016 — features a handful of eventual standards (“Only Love Can Break Your Heart”, “Nothing Can Stop Us”, “Kiss And Make Up”) and a remarkably seamless blend of house, techno, ’60s pop, italo disco and Top 40. Twenty-five years on, St. Etienne remain a global treasure.
Released: September 1991
