U.K. duo Sleaford Mods made solid use of their COVID lockdowns, using the forced isolation to begin work on UK Grim, their latest LP. In 2022, as the lockdowns ended, Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, and dominoes started to fall with rising energy costs, women and children fleeing their country as bombs started dropping, Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn suddenly had a lot more territory to cover on their album.
The sound is thankfully more of what fans have come to expect from the post-punk, hip hop, minimalist spoken/sung frank political vitriol aimed at those holding all the cards, calling out injustice, insanity, and just plain dickish behavior. The band is not immune to their own shots, calling out personal hypocrisies from time to time as well.
The record’s opening title track is a perfect, if dizzying rapid-fire of topics from Putin’s invasion to the implosion of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Prime Minister Liz Truss’ tenure, delivered over a foreboding, minimalist electronic beat.
Elsewhere on “Apart From You,” they tackle being alone and on “I Claudius,” patriotism as defined by those in charge gets caught in their buzzsaw. “Maybe we are proud of the country. Maybe we are proud to be English,” Williamson says. “Maybe I’m proud of the horrible grey streets and the shit weather and the stupid fashions I find myself investing in. It’s just that the English we’re proud of being is absolutely nothing like the English the authorities want to try and promote.”
Across 14 tracks, the band manage to yet again perfectly riff through some of society’s most current ills by way of impressively witty lyrics delivered via a snarl and sneer. Post punk rock as a check on authority is alive and well in 2023, even if our future may be grim.
