If you know Sleaford Mods, then you know the drill by now. They’ve almost reached that stage like The Fall where they’ve become a bit of an institution and have such a defined style that they always sound unmistakably like themselves. Yet there’s always something just a little bit different to keep you interested.
But as someone who thinks pretty much every album ever is too long, I wasn’t overly enthused when I saw the 48 minute run-time for this; thinking they may have been stretching themselves thin. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find this is the most varied Mods’ album yet, and is a brisk listen despite its length.
All the usual hallmarks are still there; the minimalist hip-hop meets post-punk beats from Andrew Fearn. And the angry dad rap-rants from Jason Williamson on his latest political targets (or just some fucker who’s annoyed him on the socials). But since opening up to collaborations on their previous album (there’s a couple more here as well), it seems they’re getting a bit more adventurous. A lot of the beats just feel BIGGER; there was often the hint of a deliberate crap-ness to some of their beats, acting as a kind of pre-emptive strike against current trends and also working in allowing the lyrics to really shine. But there’s some straight-up, unapologetic bangers on UK GRIM. Williamson is also showing a wider vocal range and allowing himself to air out his singing voice a little more frequently.
And it works for the most part. The title track and On the Ground are two of the best beats Fearn has ever produced. There’s a creeping paranoia hanging over numerous songs and Williamson switches things up to play a relatively chilled narrator, which isn’t a million miles off Mike Skinner in The Streets excellent early work. As always, there’s humour to be found in the surrealist mundanity that underpins a lot of the writing.
Their anger certainly isn’t gone, but this feels like their least angry album to date. They even slip into outright melancholia on the likes of Don. But on a few occasions, it feels like the anger has been replaced by a kind of weary resignation. Which is understandable; when you’ve been telling everyone how shit things have been for ten years, I’m sure it can become exhausting. And actually, for many, that probably captures the UK political mood of the moment – fed up.
There’s a couple of tracks that don’t quite work. Williamson unleashes the most vitriol on DIWhy. Ranting about holier-than-thou hipsters is all well and good, but it feels slightly mis-directed when it’s one of the album’s angriest moments. The collab with Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction on So Trendy is also a miss. It’s an extremely un-Sleaford Mods move and sounds a bit too much like a fading rockstar play-acting and borrowing himself a bit of indie cred in the process. If there’s supposed to be a self-aware irony at play there, then I’ll hold my hands up and say it went over my head.
For the most part though, UK GRIM is maybe their best album yet. And, with them really starting to test their creative range, there may be better still to come.
Rating:
Best tunes: UK GRIM, On the Ground, Right Wing Beast
Note – this review was originally published on 18/03/2023 as part of a new music roundup post. It has been re-published separately here for archiving purposes.
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