In a new interview with The Evening Standard, Noel Gallagher opened up about what he thinks of the current state of modern music. It’s not good! “There is a lot of shit pop music these days that’s just devouring everything at the minute. I’m hoping that will come to an end,” he said. “There doesn’t seem to be any characters any more. When you have proper characters, the music sort of becomes secondary — it looks after itself. Look at bands like The Smiths and The Jam — all great characters.” Gallagher goes on to name names: “I would rather drink petrol straight from the nozzle at a garage than listen to an interview with Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys. Wouldn’t you? Alternative thinking is on its way out. They just don’t make for great copy.”

He’s kind of right, especially if you look at the current roster of British pop/rock stars. They all seem to be tied up in their labels:

Is it any coincidence that all the indie labels got bought up by the major labels and things have started to get boring? I remember the Brits in 1994 — we were all shit-faced on drugs. The new names like James Blunt, Ed Sheeran and Jessie J — they defer to the [record] labels. The bands that I grew up with had a healthy dose of indifference and contempt towards their labels. That has gone.

Remember, Gallagher is totally open to reuniting Oasis for the right price. And he has a new album out with the High Flying Birds early next month! 3/3 on his own label, Sour Mash Records. Gallagher is beholden to no man or label.

[Photo via Gallagher’s website.]