BLURRY VISION

Your Blur vs. Oasis article (“The Battle of Britain,” by Robert Hilburn, Oct. 1) was paper wasted on two pointless groups who are to England what the New Kids on the Block were to America: mindless pop music for boy-crazy teen-age girls.

To say that English music of the ‘80s seemed “superficial and weightless” is utterly ridiculous. New Order, the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen and the Stone Roses made some of the greatest music of the decade.

New English bands such as Portishead, the Chemical Brothers, Swervedriver, Massive Attack and Aphex Twin continue to make fantastically innovative music, but punk-obsessed American alternative music fans couldn’t care less.

GONZI MERCHAN

Fullerton