After slogging it out in provincial pubs for years, it’s little wonder that Jason Williamson, with Andrew Fearn, has gone into creative overdrive since achieving national success.
Sleaford Mods’ eponymous EP is the latest in a long line of studio releases since 2007, and while the amount of music produced can be attributed to the simple logistics of the band (drumloops and rapping), there is little doubt that the complexity of Brexit Britain has provided a high degree of inspiration to this most political of bands.
The record deals with conflict and, in particular, violence. We open with the provocatively titled Bang Someone Out and lead single Stick in a Five and Go.
The latter is a smashy, clunky track that has Williamson’s protagonist get in a Twitter row with a stranger and then head up to Leeds to beat them up - dressed as a postman.
It’s a comically menacing song that takes joy in the logistics of score settling, and it features the most memorable and richly humorous lyric on the EP: “I know it sounds weird and it’s not OK / But I’ve got a good mate at the DVLA / So I threw him some cash and I got a postcode / And a door number and a fucking road.”
Speaking of the EP, Williamson said: “The lead tracks are mostly full of violent tendencies that only transpire through imagination. People are powerless under the political monster, and the intense anger and frustration morphs into illusions of attacking each other through the bravado of social media, depression and paranoia.” They open the door to a short, sharp blast of compelling, urgent music that ranks alongside Sleaford Mods’ best work.
Truthfully, the format may be the best thing about ‘Sleaford Mods’. Over the course of an entire album, the primitivism and repetition of the their music can grate. The five songs of this EP equal a different kind of listen, though, one which allows the unique poetry of Williamson some space and time, and which ends before the lack of musicality in Andrew Fearn’s loops becomes tiresome. If it were financially viable, one might actually suggest this as their preferred release format going forward. Either way, it's excellent.
Sleaford Mods Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri September 21 2018 - LONDON Roundhouse
Sat September 22 2018 - LONDON Roundhouse
Sun September 30 2018 - NOTTINGHAM Royal Concert Hall Notts
Fri October 26 2018 - ABERDEEN Unit 51
Sat October 27 2018 - GLASGOW Barrowland
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