Bloc Party singer Kele Okereke said Oasis were "overrated"

Lead singer Kele Okereke hit back after Liam Gallagher said Bloc Party were "a band off University Challenge".

Okereke told Uncut magazine: "Why is it bad to better yourself? It is really daft to reinforce the idea that there is something cool about being dumb."

Gallagher made his remarks in the NME two years ago, when he also called the Scissor Sisters "weirdos on stilts".

Okereke responded by saying Oasis were "overrated", although he admitted the University Challenge comment was "quite funny".

"It probably would have been a lot more funny had he not used exactly the same words to describe Travis a couple of years ago," he added.

Oasis won a lifetime achievement prize at this year's Brit Awards

The singer, who studied English literature at King's College, London, also called Oasis "repetitive Luddites".

"They claim to be inspired by the Beatles but, and this so saddens me, they have failed to grasp that the Beatles were about constant change and evolution," he said.

Bloc Party are currently on tour in the US, where their latest album, A Weekend In The City, reached number 12.

The London-based band return to Europe next month for a series of UK concerts and festival appearances.

Oasis recently won the outstanding achievement prize at the Brit Awards, shortly after releasing their greatest hits collection, Stop The Clocks.

Songwriter and guitarist Noel Gallagher played two solo acoustic shows at London's Royal Albert Hall this week in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.