“The 1975, Best Rock Band? Someone needs to re-define that immediately, because that is… I don’t know what that is, but it’s certainly not f***ing rock.”
Noel Gallagher / The 1975 (Source: Supplied)
Noel Gallagher has already made it clear he’s not a fan of The 1975, going so far as to brand frontman Matty Healy a “slack-jawed fuckwit” in an interview with Spin. But it seems he’s since amplified his hatred of the Manchester pop-rockers, taking aim at them once more in a new chat with NME.
Gallagher was speaking about the impact that Oasis had on contemporary rock bands of the ‘90s and 2000s. He said: “Oasis’ influence, I think, was for people to fucking start a band in the first place. I do meet loads of guys who say that and that’s great. There are a lot of them around, it’s just a pity guitar music has become marginalised.”
This is where Gallagher showed his distain for The 1975, quipping that to be successful as a band making guitar-based music, “You’ve either got to be rock, or that fucking 1975”. He continued: “At the BRITs, The 1975 won Best Rock or some fucking shit. I was watching it with my kids, two teenage lads, thinking, ‘Is it me being a grumpy old man, or is this shit?’ They were both going, ‘Oh no, this is fucking shit’.
“The 1975, Best Rock Band? Someone needs to re-define that immediately, because that is… I don’t know what that is, but it’s certainly not fucking rock. Whatever rock is, that’s not it.”
It was just over a week ago that Gallagher first swung at Healy, responding to the latter’s insistence (in a February appearance on Q with Tom Power) that Oasis need to “stop messing around”, “grow up”, and “headline Glastonbury”.
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Healy said at the time: “Can you imagine being in potentially – right now, still – the coolest band in the world, and not doing it because you’re in a mard with your brother? There’s not one kid, not one person, going to a High Flying Birds gig or a Liam Gallagher gig that would not rather be at an Oasis gig.”
Gallagher was (quite rightfully) peeved at the comments, branding Healy a “fucking slack-jawed fuckwit” and The 1975 as “shit”. He quipped that Healy “would never be able to imagine” being in (what Healy himself labelled) the coolest band in the world, and that the singer “needs to go over how shit his band is and split up”.
Gallagher is currently doing the rounds in support of his fourth album with the High Flying Birds, Council Skies, which arrived last Friday (June 2) via Sour Mash Records.