The Sheffield rocker, who was in the US when the London riots broke out, thinks more needs to be done to find out why they happened.
Alex told Uncut magazine: 'They certainly didn't seem to have a focus in the way I am told the riots of the early 1980s did.
'I mean I wasn't born then, but they say they were much more about politics and not just blokes out on the rob.'
The 25-year-old added: 'The thing is that, even if you buy what the papers are saying and assume everyone involved is just some mindless thug or whatever they're calling them, I think we still need to ask why this country has produced so many mindless thugs.
'I mean you can't just treat this thing as if it was entirely unrelated to anything else. If all these kids are hooligans and thieves, then why are they all hooligans and thieves?'
Rioting broke out after a peaceful protest in Tottenham, north London, on August 6.
Groups of youths used the demonstration, over the death of Mark Duggan at the hands of police, to attack police cars, shops and officers.
Lawlessness quickly spread to other parts of London over the nest few nights, and then to other major cities in the UK.