Ask any survivor of the great britpop rivalry who hated Blur the most and the common answer will be either Gallagher brother.

I suspect no one hates Blur as much as Damon Albarn. Even back when Blur were mega, Albarn worked on side projects, usually soundtrack work. Did an instrumental for Trainspotting, then worked on the soundtrack for Face, which starred the always reliable Robert Carlyle.

It wasn’t a surprise to see him clutch so hard to Gorillaz, but what really wasn’t expected was the impact the band had. Even today, Gorillaz has a larger fan base than Blur.

The only time I’ve seen Blur, they disappointed me. Slow, without much gusto and hardly interacting with their public. It was just a ticking of the box for them to play Corona Capital and I treated them as such. And from the live footage I’ve seen from their recent gigs, I don’t believe I’m alone on this.

Albarn’s passion always seemed to be somewhere else. Gorillaz is the main evidence. Every single album is meticulously created. Every song has its own personality. Their live shows have an energy I can’t find on any live Blur footage. Whatever is that Albarn and company tapped for Gorillaz, may it flow as long as needed.

Clint Eastwood is a perfect choice as a lead single but I always come back to two Gorillaz songs: feel good Inc., and Tomorrow Comes today.

I was stuck in a rut during 2001 and most of my time was spent at telephone centrals, working with two engineers from England, named Alan and Christine. I got along gangbusters with then and having visited Great Britain with my parents helped me with their accents. Alan had a thick Scottish accent, Christine had a deep London accent but usually spoke on lower voice, so it was hard for some to understand her.

They eventually had to leave. No big goodbyes, no parties, just firm handshakes and that was it. Still, we kept in touch for a while. Tomorrow comes today reminds me of them.

-Sam J. Valdés López