'Blur are pop pussies!'

Former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus has reignited his 'feud' with Blur's Damon Albarn, by claiming "it does their heads in that they can't be like Radiohead".

Malkmus, speaking to dotmusic on the eve of his debut solo UK tour, told us that Albarn and the rest of Blur are desperate to be "heavy cats", rather than a straightforward pop band.

Cult US underground rock group Pavement have been cited as a major influence on the transformation of Blur, after the release of the staid mock-rock formula of 'The Great Escape' LP in 1995.

Malkmus, Albarn and his then girlfriend, Elastica singer Justine Frischmann, are known to have become friends at the time, but rumours in recent years suggested a fall-out between Malkmus and Albarn.

This is said to have stemmed from Blur supposedly 'ripping-off' the Pavement sound on the subsequent records '13' and 'Blur'.

However, Malkmus has told us that rather than being angered by any change in direction by Blur, he sees them as simply suffering from an identity crisis.

He explains: "If they want to rip us off they can do all they want. They can take from wherever they want. They're a pop band. That's their duty, to popularize stuff from the underground, that's the nature of the beast.

"No-one's ever going to say that they're this brilliant, creative thing, like Radiohead. That's their curse on the pop level."

He continues: "When they're challenging that's fine. But there's a difference between that and having something special."

"It probably does their heads in that they can't be like Radiohead, because they probably want to be. These big bands you have like Oasis and Blur. I think there's so much more power in Radiohead, even if I like Blur."

He concludes: "I bet they wish they could be like that, because I think they wanna be heavy cats."

Malkmus split Pavement last year to embark on a solo career, starting with the self-titled debut album.

For the full video interview with Stephen Malkmus, see dotmusic tomorrow.

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