Rex Features

John Lydon has dismissed the Arctic Monkeys as a band stuck in the past and “not writing from the heart”.

The former Sex Pistols frontman said that the Humbug rockers are making a “mockery” of real music by simply copying the style of groups that have come before them.

He told Q: “That’s not a band. That’s a showbiz construct. A mockery. That’s very much like that awful band Green Day or Avril Lavigne.

“It’s not right, they’re using our wings to make money on something they never helped create for themselves. They don’t advance. They’re stuck in a time warp and not writing from the heart. Once you recognise the four walls of a genre and stick inside them, you are not writing from the heart.”

The 54-year-old went on to rubbish opinion that Monkeys singer Alex Turner is a talented songwriter.

He continued: “Oh, stop it. He just turns on the computer and types in ‘punk’ and it goes ping. I see no gut-wrenching soul-searching going on there. Just pleasant little ditties. There’s room for that, but I’m seeking more substance.”

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