Okereke Calls Oasis Most Overrated, Stupidly Hip Band Ever
A little while back, Liam Gallagher slagged Bloc Party as "a band off University Challenge" (a UK trivia show for college kids). And we're with you guys; Oasis taunts are played. BUT Kele, fast becoming a pull quote favorite, has some acerbic verbiage of his own. He told Uncut (via thisislondon):
I think Oasis are the most over-rated and pernicious band of all time. They had a totally negative and dangerous impact upon the state of British music. They have made stupidity hip. They claim to be inspired by the Beatles but, and this so saddens me, they have failed to grasp that the Beatles were about constant change and evolution. Oasis are repetitive Luddites.Responding directly to Liam's University Challenge barb, Kele offered:
Well, it's quite funny. It probably would have been a lot more funny had he not used exactly the same words to describe Travis a couple of years ago.Snap. The Bloc Party frontman went on to state that, when BP are over, he's "definitely going to move" from the UK. He also casually dropped the phrase "the airy-fairy ephemera of education," and spoke about his drug of choice:
Can there be anyone out there who has never had a line? Everyone I know has done it. Cocaine can be very attractive, very seductive. But for me it's bad news because that drug can really damage your voice. The drug I do enjoy taking is ecstasy, which gives a real sense of euphoria.Bloc Party do Letterman this Thursday. On the couch with him is Grindhouse's Rosario Dawson, but please Dave -- let Kele speak.
Posted at 10:19 AM in Where's The Beef?
Tags: Bloc Party | Oasis
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those are fightin words!
visit http://www.pondracket.com -thats right we are still alive and well.
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Don't forget "incredibly annoying" and "retardedly untalented."
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OH SNAP ... PERNICIOUS!!!
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"Can there be anyone out there who has never had a line?"
What a complete prick.
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oh good, pondracket's still around.
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This ridiculous tool lost me when he said Jack White was part of the global Zionist-Halliburton-KKKapitalist KKKonspiracy, or whatever. Hey Kele, where's my free Bloc Party CD? Wait, you mean you actually SELL them for MONEY?
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can't say i agree more. oasis hasn't been good in years.
and by good i mean never.
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yeah, hes right about oasis, but jeez, does he want to the the british answer to kanye west? because he's getting there.
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hey bloc party. get funny before you enter the world of making fun of other bands.
or
don't take shots at oasis saying their records are repetitive before you examine your own "work".
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They're both mediocre as far as I'm concerned, but Oasis has like, three or four good vocal melodies to its credit. Why can't really fucking talented people like Robert Pollard and Stephin Merrit have a feud? Now THAT would be worth seeing, not some barb-trading between two friggin' mildy okay pop stars.
Seriously. Oh, also, by calling Oasis stupid, did he actually mean "working class"? This Kele feller guy REEKS of privledge. The coke comment says it all. Yeah, there's a whole fucking planet of people who have never had a line, dude.
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actually Kele has a good point there.
oasis are pretty much boring.monotonous.boring.'hip'.and they have a stupidly hip british following.
I support Kele on responding to the Oasis dude comment( Oasis are always giving their offensive opinions and no one complains) in the manner he did.
and i also support the notion to take more X.
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The point is, they're both pop stars of dubious talent. You know, if you've got a $100,000 video or three, maybe you should stop and think before you take the whole superior indie rocker vibe, especially if you're in the U.K., where indie rock isn't really indie rock.
Oasis aren't great, but this guy's even less great. God, the British music press just keeps on pushin' the facile crap on its public.
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When will Kele and Liam put aside their difference, realize what they share in common and join together in slagging the Kaiser Chiefs.
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aaaaand New Rave has gone too far.
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Cocaine is no longer the drug of 'privilege'. Welcome to the 21st Century kids. Most of the people I know doing coke can barely afford rent & tend to borrow money. A lot. In fact, the one guy I've seen doing it the most is essentially homeless. It's not the 'posh' drug it was back in the 80's.
And I love how people are jumping to the exact conclusion everyone did back in the Oasis Vs Blur days. Why does calling Oasis stupid have to mean an attack on the working class? OASIS HAVE NOT BEEN WORKING CLASS FOR AT LEAST 15 YEARS. Unless we just gloss over that whole millionaire thing. He's likely calling them stupid because everytime Noel or Liam open their mouth everyone listening loses a portion of their brain.
That being said, Kele is not making an admirer out of me with the diarrhea-of-the-mouth he's had lately. He's been a bit condescending about his own record label, Jack White, Green Day & a host of other things. Then I remind myself he's only 26 and thus bound to say ridiculous things from time to time. Yes, it's not a get-out-of-jail-free card, but then what's Noel's excuse at nearly 40?
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Only 26? Serious people pull their heads out of their asses around 19 or so.
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He is 100% correct. He is also 100% a pretentious douchewad.
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I'm a fan of both bands but Oasis gets the overall nod from me simply because they don't take themselve so seriously.
Message to Kele: Lighten up, Francis
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Well, I said it wasn't a free pass. But come on, 26 is a considerable distance from 40. There should be SOME measured improvement in restraint.
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People jump on the class thing because it's important, and everyone in this fucking country just wants to pretend it doesn't exist, when it does. The fact that Oasis have been millionaires for awhile does not erase their roots or the effect those roots have had on their personalities, for better and for worse.
A lot of indie rock is about exercising class perogatives. Since elitism is at the core of indie rock's identity, this makes sense. It has so much in common with the art world!
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bloc party is still a band?
who knew.
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bloc party suck but its about time someone pointed out the obvious: oasis are one of the dumbest bands of all time
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Can there be anyone out there who has never had a line? Everyone I know has done it.
You guys are missing the implied meaning of the sentence, which is that Kele doesn't know anyone who hasn't done coke.
Its kinda like saying "Isn't everyone sick of that Peter Bjorn and John song? Everyone I know certainly is"
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I don't think it would be accurate to call Oasis stupid, but his comparison with the Beatles is a good one. IMO Oasis have had more great songs than Bloc Party (they've been around for ages so that's hardly surprising), but they've never been innovative.
Sean: the British class system is based on background, not personal wealth. It's a lifelong deal, and any perceived attempts to move up or down aren't looked upon kindly. That's part of what Kele's complaining about.
I think you're right about cocaine though. I'd say most people I know have never done a line, but among those who have I haven't noticed any connection to class or wealth.
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Let's never forget the man from bloc party is saying this. He should be thanking his lucky stars that oasis made stupididy hip.
He should also be thanking his lucky stars the glass floor of GO Team exist, saving bloc party from england's overratedist.
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Ringo, I second your "Lighten up, Francis"
Also, I think it's pretty funny that he digs at Liam Gallagher for similarly criticizing Travis when he called Jack White "dangerous" a few months back. What's next, some sort of musical axis of evil?
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maybe they should just do some lines together. you know, bond a little.
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I just wanted one of them scones.
CommGuru/Oblique Reality/Sons of the Stage.
Southpaw.
Be there.
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Who the fuck is Bloc Party to be ripping any band? They're utter shit. This clown couldn't hold Liam's jock.
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I get that the prejudice involving class is important but obviously class itself is not. Or rather it wouldn't be if people from every side didn't make it that way. I'm sure there are plenty of people from Manchester and the Working-Class™ that vomit every time Noel & Liam are touted as heroic victors or when they simply appoint themselves as such. Oasis are a symbol for every negative stereotype that's been hurled in the direction of the working-man. To me, that's probably more what Kele is getting at when he says Oasis have had a negative & dangerous impact. That and they haven't had a decent tune for years.
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Uh-Oh !
It's normally not a good idea to take on the Gallaghers, unless you're a German *ahem* businessman !
Just ask Robbie Williams.
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when i heard them say "we are what the beatles would be if they were still together" i wanted to slit my wrists. i guess it was their homage to "we're bigger than jesus"
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I was with him until the cocaine thing.
Also, his hair reminds me of cereal. Whole-grain cereal. I want to eat his hair.
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I am sorry but I cannot buy into the class issue. Mainly because I thought that Bloc Party was from Lewisham - which is a VERY working class area of London.
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Damn, you know your band fails at life if the Bloc Party guy calls you overrated and repetitive.
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Dear stereogum readers:
If you want to read a proper response to the miserable comments by that daft Nigerian kid in the second rate indie band, I strongly suggest that you go to my blog, Colonel K Speaks
www.colonelkspeaks.blogspot.com
As per his comments on drug use, I believe that it's best to keep comments like that to yourself. Your drug use is your decision and you're a grown ass man Kele. But to make such flippant comments in a public forum is outright irresponsible and stupid.
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I can't agree with Kele more about Oasis, cos yes Oasis have been producing the same mundane crap for more than 10 years now, and Liam Gallagher is indeed a tool...but for f*ck's sake Kele, "Can there be anyone who has never done a line?" Most pretentious, self-indulgent, hipster comment ever. I'm studying music at university, for christ's sake, and I've never done a line! I have a large number of indie kid/arty friends and I'd be confident in saying the majority of them have never done coke. I'm not going to preach to Kele about the dangers of drug abuse, he can do whatever he likes, but please, please, please, don't try to make your drug use cool.
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No matter how hard they try, Bloc Party aren't going to win this war...
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Saying Oasis aren't working class is awfully ignorant. Rather akin to the stupidity of Sartre telling Camus he was no longer an Algerian because he'd lived in Paris for a decade.
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Well Owen, we could probably argue about it all day but the fact is Noel & Liam Gallagher are not currently working-class. They live in expensive houses and fly private jets and have done more lines than Kele Okereke (or George Bush for that matter) could ever hope to do. Their life bares little resemblence to anyone's life that currently works for a living.
Now, does being wealthly suddenly mean they aren't from Manchester? No. They can't change their birthplace any more than Camus could change being born Algerian. But then I think it's pretty dangerous to elevate whether one was born with a silver spoon or not to one's race.
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Owen
For crying out loud, you Americans have no clue, do you?
Sartre was right.
Camus was not an Algerian, he was of the descendent of French colonizers of Algerian. He was neither Berber nor Arab. He, like Derrida and many others, was a pied-noir. Don't get it twisted. It's insulting to those of us whose relatives had to live with an occupying country's flag waving overhead. It really is.
And Sean...while the Gallaghers may be in a very high tax bracket, they are still defined as working class within the confines of British society. The way they talk, their support of certain football clubs and their behavior are all stunning examples of the Irish descended working class from the Northwest of England.
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i like bloc party but this trading barbs with other bands i don't really care for is getting REALLY old. i don't think i'm gonna read any Bloc Party news unless it's about their next album.
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Once I did "a line".
A line of RICH CHOCOLATEY OVALTINE!!!
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OOOHHHHHHHH, he made fun of Oasis. That's so original.
Let's see who anyone remembers in 20 years. I bet you anything Definitely Maybe will always outrank Silent Alarm in any "Best Of" lists out there.
Getting tired of people saying Oasis hasn't done a decent song in years. You cannot listen to Don't Believe the Truth and deny that any of those are good.
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what is with that pondracket.com guy? Always junking up the comment section. OH well, the site is pretty good.
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"I think Oasis are the most over-rated and pernicious band of all time. They had a totally negative and dangerous impact upon the state of British music."
Kele, don't be a twat. The British music scene in the early 1990's was a disgrace. Or are you such a big fan of Take That and Mr. Blobby and Shaggy that you hated to see them relegated to second-tier status when Oasis blew up?
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Colonel, I think there are plenty of Irish-decended working-class that don't act anything like Noel or Liam. I'm an Irish-descendant myself and don't walk around with 1/10th the arrogant swagger or willingness to battle those two have. Which is my point really (and I think Kele's partly) inasmuch as it's all a stereotype akin to saying all Scots are loud and all Germans are angry.
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Oasis: just a band.
Bloc Party: just a band.
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oasis: just a band
bloc party: just a shitty, shitty excuse for a band
FUCK. please cover some good music. no one else is.
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I'm sure Liam managed to take his mind off of Okereke's verbal evisceration while taking a dip in his Olympic-sized swimming pool full of money
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Here in Canada, in the Greater Toronto Area, people generally make fun of Oasis and not waste a breath or even know about Bloc Party. I think Oasis makes good music and I heard a song of Bloc Party I thought was decent but that's regardless because we're on the level of decency and conduct. I'm glad this country isn't poisoned with a Hollywood or a Beverly Hills and what they harbour. Canada is an honest country and one of the reasons is the lack of celebrities here (because we have no "stay-at-home" celebrities like Jim Carrey, Alex Trebek, Pamela Anderson, or Celine Dion, they all went to the States). I know Bloc Party and Oasis aren't American but their shit attitudes and drug crap is bad, and they live the "American Dream" which I think has gone the wrong way and doesn't exist in itss original form in anyone's lives as of now. I love music from much of drug lovin bands but thats why I usually explore them to the extent of the cd and not their personal lives or nonsense like that cause it's like being a garbage picker. Hey why not do no drugs Kele, Liam, and Noel? Rush, a band from Toronto, Ontario is still holding fine with loving families, awsome music, and unusually high integrity that takes some getting used to. They wouldn't say this crap that bands like these do if you gave them $1 000 000 American dollars and women, heck they wouldn't take it anyway. I'm pretty sure they've only gone as far as weed which has been decriminalized in this country anyway. Congratulations Rush and Canada on never even putting your heads in your asses in the first place, so that you'd never even have to consider pulling them out.
In my opinion you're a part of this societal douche factory if you take sides with just one of two of these brit pop-indie bands. I'll consider them based on musicianship rather than who they are because none of them are people I'd want as friends. And while the women can be attractive, what else, Paris Hilton is trashy and disgraceful along with many others.
In a nut shell I just used this opportunity to blast the whole celebrity scene at large, it's a large festering pile of crap that the media glorifies. Wake up people! Let them have their feuds and take part in being the drags of humanity, just don't talk about them or give them attention. In a way they're doing this because we feed them. This stuff has destroyed America (ahem CNN, and watch the Daily Show or Colbert Report for top enlightenement, or the Mercer Report and This Hour Has 22 Minutes in Canada, these are the only shows that have common sense on a respirator) and can't be good for anyone else whether it's Canada or the UK
A bit long but one more thing... I wish I was born in another age, cause now the shit is always in your face and North America, especially the States is failing, personalities like Kele, Liam, and Noel are but a scratch of the conglomerate of people who make albeit decent music but inflict gashing wounds to our brains. I should be mentally retarded by now and if I am, it's cause I don't notice it when the whole world is.
Truly one more thing, just a parting note to think about that I have to get out, though a little off topic. When an American soldier in Iraq dies, Canada and the States lower their flags together but when a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan dies... well you know what happens next.
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I agree Matthew. It would take a pretty ardent Oasis hater to deny that post-Morning Glory classics like Lyla or Let There Be Love aren't brilliant. However, due to Gallagher Brothers' merciless bashings of Radiohead, Coldplay, U2, and hell, The Rolling Stones got them a pretty huge following of ardent haters.
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please join the best oasis forum around
thanks.
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Please join the best oasis forum on the internet!!!
Thanks..
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