Ah Liam Gallagher, Britpop's most fervent advocator of the tambourine and a man who sees no shame in charging fans nearer £100 for a t-shirt that consists solely of an image of his own face. As the helmsman of Oasis, once the face of British music, Liam and brother Noel ended the latter years of the band's career with a succession of decidedly average and uninspired albums. Unlike the equally tempestuous Noel, Liam seems devoid of any inkling of self-awareness, once declaring himself to be possessed by the spirit of John Lennon. With his new band Beady Eye, whose new record 'Be' was described by the man himself as "F**king mega", Liam is content in peddling an insipid pub rock drivel that only goes to justify his penning of one half-decent tune in his Oasis tenure. Somewhat embarrassingly, the new songs are peppered with thinly veiled lyrical assaults on his brother. It comes across as mere bitter jealousy, Liam remaining perpetually incensed as Noel's High Flying Birds project enjoys greater critical and commercial successes. In the meantime, Liam seems perfectly satisfied waddling around in his omnipresent parka and chewing on that same piece of gum that has been stuck in his mouth since 1994. As past-their-peek rock stars with grand delusions go, Liam is up there with the best of them, his extensive entourage dragging behind them an ego whose expansion show no signs of abating.
