#englishtapas

Sleaford Mods - UBU 2017

Rennes - France

“Have you ever wondered why you wonder why?”

Sleaford Mods is an English minimalist post-punk duo from England that formed in 2007. Jason Williamson writes and performs the vocals for the music and Andrew Fearn contributes bass and drum parts. The thing that makes Sleaford Mods stand out are their lyrics. The thing they are most well known for are their harsh criticisms of living in the working class in England, full of English slang and profanity. English Tapas is their 9th studio album as Sleaford Mods (excluding their live album).

The first thing you’ll notice while listening to a Sleaford Mods album is the instrumentation, or lack thereof. Every track consists of a simple, yet melodic bass line complimented by a simple drum beat that I wouldn’t be surprised is a drum machine. The instruments aren’t the main focus of the tracks though. That goes to Jason Williams’ loud and angry vocals. To be perfectly honest, I despised this album on first listen. I had never been exposed to Sleaford Mods prior to this, and the absolute lack of complexity took me aback. Despite this, I gave it a second shot with an open mind and actually enjoyed it. 

This album is not incredible. You could argue it’s not even good. Every instrumental is so minimal and Williamson’s vocals are loud and obnoxious and the album is just uninviting. If you do give it a fair listen though, it is a very fun album.

The album opens with the song Army Nights which has a very melodic bassline and a very simple snare hi-hat rhythm combo. From what I can gather, this song is a criticism of gym culture. This track is very fun but it is momentarily ruined near the end with this awful fart joke that feels so out of place.

Just Like We Do and Moptop follow this track and both are very solid tracks. Just Like We Do seems to be a criticism of fame and wealth, and the self-importance and arrogance many people have after becoming famous or wealthy. The chorus to this one is one of my favorites on the album. Moptop isn’t as memorable but is much angrier than the previous tracks.

Messy Anywhere and Time Sands are both great and fun to listen to, but they are very forgettable. Both are very straightforward tracks lyrically and instrumentally, but Time Sands does have a pretty annoying cricket sample throughout the entire track.

Snout is by far my favorite song on the album. The drums and bass in this track are loud and angry, driving the track forward. Williamson’s vocals are snarly and full of rage as he rants about a range of topics over this instrumentation. Definitely a highlight.

Drayton Manored and Carlton Touts follow in the footsteps of Snout and both are angry and fast-moving. The earlier tracks on the album had more of a groove to it, but these tracks are more abrasive and angry.

Synths are occasionally featured on this album too. Cuddly has a very sloppy 3 or 4 note synth line that occasionally pops up underneath the mix. The whole song is a departure from the previous songs and feels more experimental production-wise with Williamson’s vocals occasionally panning between the headphones and the synth being incorporated.

The last few tracks are good but not as great as some of the previous tracks on the album. Overall this is a really, really enjoyable album. It’s not something I would personally keep coming back to but I found myself singing along to the choruses subconsciously or humming one of the bass lines while doing homework.

7.5/10

Favorite Tracks: Snout, Drayton Manored, Carlton Touts

Least Favorite Tracks: Dull, BHS, Cuddly