[ Music Index | Metro | MetroActive Central | Archives ] Brit Snit, Split Hit You say Oasis, I say Blur By Rafer Guzman If you believe the British music press, the entire country has declared civil war over loyalties split between Oasis and Blur, two massively successful bands being called, respectively, the new Stones and the new Beatles. That's pure hype, of course, but bad-boys Oasis and cute-as-a-button Blur take full advantage of it, releasing albums in the same month and singles on the same day (prompting headlines like "Oasis Slightly Outsells Blur!"). They also love antagonizing each other in the press: Oasis' Gallagher supposedly said of his arch-enemies, "I hope they catch AIDS and die." They've definitely put some much needed passion back into the British pop world: debates rage in letters to editors across the Kingdom about who's cuter, cooler, more "real." Meanwhile, in America, we're sitting around smoking pot and listening to hardy-har-har slacker novelties like Better Than Ezra. Though both bands are highly derivative, they draw from two of the most exciting periods in rock n' roll. Oasis recall the British Invasion of the 60's, while Blur take inspiration from the UK new wave scene of the 80's. Given the reheated 70's rock that clogs the airwaves these days, Oasis' solid melodies and Blur's clean harmonies are a breath of fresh air. As analogies go, however, Oasis are really the new Small Faces, while Blur are the new Kinks--just to put things in perspective. Oasis' new album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? departs only slightly from the power-pop formula that made Definitely Maybe such a successful debut: Liam Gallagher's sneering voice (think of a sexier Johnny Rotten) over brother Noel's ringing guitars. Yet "Cast No Shadow" is a melancholy number, and the glam-ballad "Don't Look Back in Anger" features the line, "Please don't put your life in the hands/Of a rock n' roll band/Who'll throw it all away," which would move even Bowie to tears. Oasis actually owe a larger debt to the Beatles than do their rivals, utilizing rich harmonies that bring to mind the Fab Four circa Sgt. Pepper's; in fact, the charming ditty "She's Electric" pointedly rips off the closing chorus of "A Little Help From My Friends." Paul Weller lends his guitar and vocals to the final track, "Champagne Supernova" a self-indulgent but powerful epic which proves that while Oasis may wear mop-tops, their hearts are closer to the psychedelic end of the 1960's. Oasis is one fantastic rock band--but nothing much more. Blur, however, are a fantastic pop band made all the more interesting by their merciless lampooning of modern British life. On Blur's new offering, The Great Escape, singer-songwriter Damon Albarn follows in Ray Davies' footsteps by populating his songs with dead-on caricatures of recognizable people: tv-zombie "Dan Abnormal," dreary businessman "Ernold Same," and the "Charmless Man" of whom Albarn sings, "Educated the expensive way/Knows his claret from a Beaujolais/I think he'd like to have been Ronnie Kray/But then nature didn't make him that way." Here, as on last year's Parklife, the band tackle Madness-style ska ("Fade Away"), synth-balladry ("Yuko and Hiro") and edgy power-pop ("Stereotypes") with irreverent glee. In addition, Albarns' brilliant, foppish lyrics ("He's reading Balzac/Knocking back Prozac," from the single "Country House") would give Momus a run for his money. While Oasis are dead serious, posing with dark sunglasses and pouty lips, Blur are keen on having fun: the back photo of Escape subtly satirizes the corporate chic of the 80's, with the bandmembers huddled around an IBM, wearing silk suits and lip-gloss a la Spandau Ballet. Oasis fervently deny that their music is calculated, but Blur have no such pretensions: their lyric sheets feature guitar chords for each song, like magicians gladly giving away their secrets. In the competition between Oasis and Blur, there is the implicit question of which band is more "British." Certainly Oasis have all the arrogance of any English band worth its salt. Like Mick Jagger, Gallagher is a snotty brat with the pride of a peacock--and that's his saving grace. He successfully plays the sullen s.o.b. to swooning teenage girls, but he could easily be out-pouted by any number of newcomers. Conversely, Blur stand an outside chance of joining the ranks of British eccentrics like The Kinks, XTC and Billy Bragg, who love their country enough to take it to task. Here in the states, this battle of the bands is rather a moot point--but Blur leads the race by a nose with their intelligence, humor and impeccable pop smarts. [ Metro | MetroActive Central | Archives ] From the Nov. 13-21, 1995, issue of the Pacific Sun This page was designed and created by the Boulevards team. Copyright © 1996 Metro Publishing and Virtual Valley, Inc.