Damon Albarn has criticised Kaiser Chiefs in the strongest possible terms – by comparing their new album to Blur’s famously underwhelming 1995 record The Great Escape. The singer said: “I’ve made two bad records. The first record [Leisure], which is awful, and The Great Escape, which was messy.

“The Kaiser Chiefs’ new record (Yours Truly, Angry Mob) sounds a bit like The Great Escape in that it sounds a bit empty. Sometimes records are like that if you try too hard to repeat your success.”

It’s quite a change of heart for Albarn. Two years ago he was so moved by a Kaiser Chiefs gig at Leeds Metropolitan University he burst into tears (“I think it was a compliment,” said Kaisers drummer Nick Hodgson at the time).

Kaiser Chiefs – who Liam Gallagher once unfairly dismissed as “a bad Blur” – have made no secret of the debt they owe Albarn and co. What’s more, Ricky Wilson and Damon Albarn have hung out together several times (they even went together to watch ex-Blur guitarist Graham Coxon’s solo gig at South By Southwest in Texas last year).

We wonder if the atmosphere might be a bit more frosty the next time they meet…

via Q4music