I would have thought it was the other way around. EMF (who I also liked) were very mainstream and lusted after by most of the girls at my school whereas Jesus Jones were more underground and liked by the 'cool' kids.
Yeah. Maybe you are right on that. Street cred most possibly an incorrect analogy. Screamadelica and Blue Lines blew the lot out the way when they came out. I think great tunes become mainstream regardless.