Arcade Fire photo by Nathan Dainty

In a recent interview, Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger had some choice words for Slipknot and their use of costumes. “Music shouldn’t come with a gimmick. Music should just be music,” he told Metal Covenant. He also slammed Stone Sour, a band started by Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, dubbing them the “Lite” version of Nickelback. It turns out fellow Canadian outfit Arcade Fire also aren’t safe from Nickelback’s crosshairs.

Speaking recently to CBC Radio, Nickelback discussed the constant negativity surrounding the group — such as the stories about how their music is considered a “crime” and used as a form of torture. They believe it’s all an agenda put forth by hip music critics who actually secretly like listening to Nickelback. “Honestly, I even think the critics like Nickelback,” Kroeger explained. “I honestly do… It’s not like it’s bad music, it’s just music… We’re that guilty pleasure.”

“We’re not a cool indie band, we’re not Arcade Fire,” Kroeger went on. “They’re critics’ darlings. You’re supposed to like those bands because they’re hip, they’re indie and cool. You’re supposed to like them as a critic. I don’t think you’re supposed to like us.”

To illustrate their point, Nickelback offered up an anecdote in which a Rolling Stone article about them was supposedly tweaked to have more of a snarky slant against them. They don’t mean to start any new beefs, however, as Nickelback later mentioned that Arcade Fire and indie bands like them have put out “great stuff.”

You can hear the full interview on CBC’s website; they begin talking about music critics and Arcade Fire around the 14:00 minute mark.

Arcade Fire’s Everything Now Twitter account actually brought Kroeger’s comments to our attention. They tweeted, “Can we get in on this? Nickelback is trash-talking Arcade Fire, too!”