Tweet
Sleaford Mods - Key Markets
Label: Harbinger Sound
Release Date: July 24th 2015
Purchase From Amazon
Sleaford Mods are the voice of 21st century England, not the England that gets excited and camps out for the next Royal baby or keeps the Tories in power, they're the real England, the England that sees the growing gulf between the haves and have-nots, the England that is splintering.
To call this duo minimalist is overstating it by quite a bit! Sparse hip-hop beats over electronic post-punk guitar samples create a mutant hybrid offspring of Schoolly D and a more politicized The Fall. On-stage, they're a study in contrasts with frontman Jason Williamson frothing at the mouth as he spews raging rhymes in a Midlands accent while beatsmith Andrew Fearn merely hits the play button on a laptop drinking a beer and nodding along like a punter in the crowd.
So Key Markets is either their eighth or third album depending on how you look at it, Jason Williamson has only recently stopped working as a Benefits Advisor so when he's spitting his venom he's spitting it from firsthand experience. No one is spared, Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, Boris Johnson, David Cameron and the drummer from Blur all get called out for the cunts they are.
I love all the songs on this album as I have their last two albums, I mean it's really hard to pick a favorite but I'm quite partial to Face to Faces. It's just Williamson ranting about the state of his country like a pal down the pub that's had a few too many, I will say and I know other reviewers have mentioned it as well, the problem with political references is they can get outdated rather quickly so Nick Clegg wanting a second chance is a moot point now as he's resigned as head of the lib dems. Bronx In A Six is interesting because it's quite obviously directed at someone, the remarks are a little too on-point to just be a flat-out assault on all pop stars. Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn are both indie rock also-rans so I'm curious who pissed Williamson off so badly at one point, I know there's some beef between them and Noel Gallagher but I can't help wondering if there's also a reference to Damon Albarn, The last bit of the song is from a firsthand pov at a party in Winter of 2002 where Williamson knicks all the coke at the party and breaks shit.
So the last track is The Blob, it's about The Blob eating up all of England, is it an analogy for the apathy everyone seems to exhibit nowadays? Is it about a giant green slime eating everyone? Who knows, maybe it's both.
You should buy this album, the best thing I can say about it is if John Peel were still around today, this would be his favorite band
