John Lydon has once more hit out on the Intercourse Pistols, and informed new frontman Frank Carter that “you’re not Johnny Rotten, I’m”.
The feedback come after the punk pioneers returned final yr with Carter (Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Gallows) changing Lydon.
They kicked off the most recent iteration with three small gigs at Bush Corridor in London earlier than embarking on an autumn UK tour, and taking part in an explosive set at Royal Albert Corridor as a part of this yr’s Teenage Most cancers Belief live performance sequence.
Lydon – who glided by Johnny Rotten whereas within the band and is now the frontman of Public Picture Ltd. – was fast to criticise the band’s comeback, and informed NME that it was “virtually malicious in its intent” and no totally different to “karaoke”.
Now, forward of the band acting at this yr’s Obtain competition and crossing the pond for a North American tour, Lydon has doubled down on his stance.
“It’s bizarre,” he informed Traditional Rock. “[It’s] a dumbing down of all of the integrity, depth, real honesty and heartfelt feelings I put into that band.”
“In fact, it’s karaoke, nevertheless it’s like… Come on, Mr Carter, you’re not Johnny Rotten, I’m. Proper? Cease it,” he added, earlier than happening to call the one factor concerning the new frontman that obtained his seal of approval: “I truly assume he took it on in the best spirit.”
The feedback comply with a protracted record of criticisms Lydon has made towards Intercourse Pistols in recent times. Final month, as an illustration, he claimed he would “by no means” rejoin Intercourse Pistols and went on to explain the present model of the band as “infantile”.
“They’ve killed the content material, or finished their finest to, and turned the entire thing right into a garbage, childishness, and that’s unacceptable,” he stated. “Sorry, I’m not going to present a serving to hand to this any longer, so far as I’m involved, I’m the Pistols, they usually’re not.”
In addition to calling the comeback “malicious” and like “karaoke” within the aforementioned NME interview, the singer additionally spoke particularly about Frank Carter. “The poor sausage! Does he know what he’s walked into? Good on him, what a fantastic fucking alternative, however there’s one thing darker happening behind it,” he stated.
Round that point, guitarist Steve Jones chimed in on the strain, and claimed that it “wasn’t even value asking” Lydon to take part within the reunion exhibits. He then revealed that he and his bandmates hadn’t spoken to the singer in 17 years.
Lydon first left Intercourse Pistols in 1978, although he would later hit the highway with them once more through the mid-’90s and early ‘00s. The connection between the members then soured once more on account of elements together with Lydon’s political beliefs and a court docket battle surrounding Danny Boyle’s 2022 biographical mini-series, Pistol.
Chatting with NME firstly of the yr, Steve Jones mirrored on the overall response after introducing Carter to the line-up, and stated that he was stunned to obtain basically “no backlash” to the choice.
“I used to be able to throw it in, touring and all that. I couldn’t care much less. However with Frank, it simply made it straightforward. All of us get alongside,” he stated. “You assume you’re gonna get a adverse factor by doing [it without Lydon], however I’m stunned. There was no backlash in any respect.”
Whereas Intercourse Pistols are at present gearing as much as hit the highway once more this summer season, Lydon is making ready to carry out dwell as a part of the upcoming PiL ‘This Is Not The Final Tour’ tour. Chatting with NME about extra bulletins from the band, he additionally revealed that they’ve began engaged on some “raucous” new music collectively.
You could find tickets to Intercourse Pistols’ UK exhibits right here and worldwide dates right here, you can too discover tickets and extra data round PiL exhibits right here.
