to have been one of the most conservative in Britain since the Second World War. That's why they felt the need to dress up in beads and go on about how stoned they were, pretending to 'dig' Hendrix and the Doors. I found it disgusting at the time, to be honest. I'm actually surprised that little chap from Kula Shaker never got an Ivor Novello. His drivel embodied our generation's play acting at rebellion as much as anyone. When you hear his social views he could have sat in Franco's cabinet so it kind of embodies the whole picture for me. He's not any kind of an exception -- he was the epitome. Was the lack of political bite partly what annoyed you about Britpop? Ian C: Well it annoyed me about my generation. In about 1990 a lot of the people who rioted and demo-ed would have been those opposing Thatcher through the 80s, I think - older people. Our generation was the one that told itself and anyone else who'd listen not that they had come up with any answers to anything but that all the answers had already been found or were not worth knowing. I used to read the letters in Melody Maker through this period all of them trying to educate the likes of you and me to the illusory concept of originality and how it could never be achieved. Which really meant: "My name is Joshua. I am taking a degree in critical theory