Graham Coxon said Britpop was "f***ing really dull" for guitarists.
The Blur musician insisted with the exception of artists like Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, most of them seemed to be "there to back up a female vocalist", and he didn’t feel like the best music in the 1990s was coming from that seen.
He told The Guardian newspaper: "I was excited once I figured out where the good music was coming from. And it was from America and from leftfield. Talking as a guitar player, Britpop for me was dull.
"It was f***ing 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."
The 49-year-old star explained while he got on with many of his peers – and conceded they were "totally good on their instruments" – the style of music became too safe, especially when compared to then-fresh acts like Bikini Kill and Pavement.
He added: "They’re all jolly nice and totally good on their instruments, 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."
Graham also hit out at the way the media portrayed the Britpop and grunge scenes, and pitted them against each other.
He said: "That was bulls**t, really. 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."
Graham Coxon: Briptop was really dull for guitarist
