Band beef: Black Keys slam Nickelback

Akron duo The Black Keys have kick-started a war-of-words against fellow rockers Nickelback, calling the Canadian act "horrendous" in a new interview.

Drummer Patrick Carney, who along with Dan Auerbach penned one of last year's best albums in El Camino, slammed Nickelback in the band's first cover story in Rolling Stone magazine.

"Rock and roll is dying because people became okay with Nickelback being the biggest band in the world," he told the mag.

"So they became okay with the idea that the biggest rock band in the world is always going to be shit - therefore you should never try to be the biggest rock band in the world. F**k that!

Carney said Nickelback didn't challenge music fans enough.

"Rock & roll is the music I feel the most passionately about, and I don't like to see it f**king ruined and spoon-fed down our throats in this watered-down, post-grunge crap, horrendous shit.

"When people start lumping us into that kind of shit, it's like, 'F**k you,' honestly."

Despite selling millions of records, Nickelback often find themselves the butt of many music industry jokes.

Late last year, a music website released a widget that allowed users to eliminate the band's name from every website they visited.

El Camino was named album of the year by TimeOut magazine.

- Herald online