Purple headed baldy Michael Stipe has said that he rejoices in the geekiness of his outfit.

Speaking to popular news resource for melodic yet whiney US indie the Daily Mirror, Stipe said "We are always going to be an imperfect, weird and geeky outfit. We were that way to begin with and, to a large degree, always will be."

He added that he actually believes this is a realisation of the Biblical prophecy that the Geek Shall Inherit The Earth: "In fact that may be one of our strengths. Hard as we may try to make something supercool, it's just not going to happen."

Stipe also said that he feels like a bit of a thicky in comparison to his bandmates Peter Buck and Mike Mills: "Both Mike and Peter are much smarter than I am and better read. I'm jealous of that," he said. "Mike'd know about this place and the history of the city. Same thing with Peter, and he's also got an ability to summarise a situation quickly."