He might have been one of the most iconic guitarists in the Britpop genre, but Blur’s Graham Coxon doesn’t look back on the era fondly, saying it was “fucking dull” for guitarists.
Back in the mid-’90s, there was one word on the lips of every music fan; Britpop. Those in the press claimed that there hadn’t been such a musical sensation since Beatlemania in the ’60s, and those who saw the scenes on England’s streets would have agreed.
By far, the most notable aspect of Britpop was the aptly-named Battle Of Britpop. While many fans took their sides, either sticking with the working class Oasis, or the arty Blur, it was a famous chart battle in 1995 that aimed to see which of the two bands were the most popular.
However, even though Blur won the battle, they seem to have lost the war, with guitarist Graham Coxon saying it was a pretty dull time for those who toted a six-string.
Speaking to The Guardian recently, Coxon opened up about his time at the centre of Britpop, noting he found guitarists of the era to be pretty monotonous.
“I was excited once I figured out where the good music was coming from,” Coxon explained. “And it was from America and from Leftfield. Talking as a guitar player, Britpop for me was dull.”
“It was fucking really dull. No one was doing anything interesting with a guitar. Of course, Jonny Greenwood was, Radiohead, but for the majority of it, it was just drongos who were there to back up a female vocalist.”
“They’re all jolly nice and totally good on their instruments,” said Coxon of his overlooked contemporaries (nicknamed ‘Sleeperblokes’, in honour of the male members of Sleeper). “But it became a thing and it was very, very boring.”
“For me, people like Sonic Youth, Bikini Kill, Pavement and other small-label punk groups from America – these kids were teenagers, they were playing like they didn’t give a shit and like their life depended on it.”
While on the topic of American grunge bands, Coxon noted he enjoyed how “expressive” guitarists in the genre were, and dispelled the idea that there was any sort of rivalry between the American alt-rockers and those in the Britpop genre.
“That was bullshit, really,” he explained. “I didn’t understand that. That’s why I got so upset, because that should have been a time for me to be like, wow, brilliant. There was a particular kind of proto-grunge punk rock, with people like the Melvins and the Wipers, and these bands are brilliant unsung heroes, really.”
While Graham Coxon hasn’t released a new solo album in six years, he did enter the studio with Blur a few years back to record 2015’s The Magic Whip. Although there’s no news of a new Blur album yet, Damon Albarn noted recently that “Whenever Graham is around, I’m up to playing music with him.”
Check out Blur’s ‘Song 2’:
