With the release of The Magic Whip, Blur’s first studio album since 2003, the word britpop is resurfacing on news sites and music blogs. Unfortunately it’s often considered a dirty word, like britpop is from a time in music we should all be ashamed of, like ska or emo. If you’re reading this site, then obviously you know that is just nonsense. Britpop was and still is wildly influential and enduring. It was bombastic and cheeky and political and perfectly encapsulated the ’90s and ’00s. Nouveau britpop, like Arctic Monkeys et al (as well as old favorites reappearing) is just as important if slightly more sophisticated.
We all know that. But I guess mass media doesn’t. So they cling to ancient headlines, like the rivalry between Blur and Oasis, as though it still even matters. Just this morning I read an article on The New York Post (I know, I know) called “5 Reasons Blur Were Better than Oasis” as though that’s even a thing anymore. The blogger went on to list 5 of Blur’s greatest songs compared to 5 of Oasis’ weakest songs (except for “D’You Know What I Mean?” That song is amazing and always will be.) as though he could “prove” that Blur are the superior band. I’m not even linking to this article because it’s stupid and doesn’t deserve traffic.
It seems like it’s so popular now to slag Oasis as forgettable pop and hold up Blur as artistic geniuses — as though they both can’t be the latter. If you cannot appreciate what Oasis did for music, then you know very little about music. If you think that Noel Gallagher isn’t a living rock god, then I feel sorry for you. And guess what — you can think Noel Gallagher and Damon Albarn/Graham Coxon are geniuses. One does not preclude the other!
Ok, I’ll get down from my soapbox now. Let’s all just laugh at nonsense non-news and listen to some good tunes.
