I first saw USPOP at the bandshell near Minnehaha Fall. I was out on a walk and surprise – fantastic music. They are fun, new but nostalgic, and they have an album coming out (Yer Welcome) with a release show at Zhora Darling February 27.
Please tell us about yourselves and the band.
USPOP is Americans playing Britpop music – American Britpop. For the uninitiated, USPOP rhymes with “Bus stop”. I (Peter Davies) sing and play guitar, my brother Kent plays lead guitar, and we’ve got Grant Hughes on the bass and Russel Banks on the drums.
We like to wear parkas, trainers and sunglasses because it’s important to look amazing. The accents are fake but the music is real.
USPOP sounds like Oasis, Blur, Pulp, the Verve — the greats.
We’re releasing our first full length album called “Yer Welcome” February 27 with a release show at Zhora Darling in Minneapolis.
What spurred the idea of picking up the gauntlet of British pop in Minnesota?
I was driving on a dreary afternoon in March, you know, the worst month of the entire year, and I was thinking about how awful the weather was and listening to “The Masterplan” and I thought to myself, “you know who else would be talking about the weather right now besides Minnesotans? Brits. We’re a lot the same. And I realized I missed the big Oasis guitars and I am really good at singing these kinds of songs. So I talked to my brother and Grant and Russel, we put on some parkas and sunglasses and we came up with USPOP and started churning out great songs.
I start every show by telling everyone we’re American – I do it like I’m a Brit for a laugh and just keep going. People ask me all the time if I’m really British, which is ridiculous because I literally just told them. It’s a bit of fun.
How much of the songs come from your perspective and how much from the perspective of a 90s Brit pop artist? Because the vernacular is British, the themes feel British.
We call it American Britpop because we’re American. The songs sound like Britpop songs, but underneath it’s 2026 American because we’re doing it now. Honestly, if we tried to do these songs like an American indie band in trucker hats and flannels we wouldn’t have made it out of the first rehearsal. We do it the way we do it because it’s the best way to play these songs.
In terms of what the songs are about, I disagree entirely. Brits and Minnesotans have a lot in common. They’re orderly people that don’t like to make a fuss but think very highly of themselves. They talk about the weather a lot, only when Minnesotans talk about the weather, they do it because it’s the most interesting weather in the world. So whose perspective is it? Well there’s really no either/or answer to that, is there?
What are the limitations and the freedoms, especially with songwriting, to adhering to the Brit pop genre?
It’s not limiting at all. It’s liberating to write inside a box as long as you get to choose the box. Britpop is a wonderful box – 10 guitars is not enough, so we’re adding an orchestra and let’s give people something to sing along with. It’s an incredibly grand feeling playing one of our songs and then playing a Blur or Oasis song and thinking, “oh, I think ours is better”.
Please tell us about the upcoming album release.
We’re calling the album “Yer Welcome” because Britpop bands haven’t released much music lately and we thought we could do it better anyway – and the album is amazing, so, “Yer Welcome”.
It’s a huge album – “America” has even got an orchestra. You’ll remember something from every song you listen to. We’re really proud of the arrangements and writing – everyone had a hand in it. I think you’ll hear Minneapolis in 2026 as much as you hear Manchester in 1995.
We’re releasing it at Zhora Darling February 27 – it’s a really amazing venue with two really wonderful bands Savage Moods and Absolutely Yours. It’s a can’t-miss show. Maybe we’ll have jewel cases.
Mostly Minnesota 