By Coen Ayres
British electronic, punk-hop duo, Sleaford Mods, arguably made one of the biggest impacts on the ‘Keep it Park’ stage at Farmer and the Owl this year with their simple but aggressive set. Half way through one of their songs, where vocalist Jason Wiliamson was seen spitting water while shouting “I woke up with shit in my sock outside the Polish off-licence” a random punter standing beside me quietly said “ oh my god, who are these guys?”.
Well with their new release “All That Glue”, Wiliamson and beat maker, Andrew Fearn hope to may just inform you on who and how good they are.
Released in May, Sleaford Mods present a compilation that will satisfy both the most dedicated or newer fans. With a collection of their biggest hits, B sides, unheard tracks and rarities, the band doesn’t just deliver a double LP that lengthens almost an hour and twenty minutes, but also reminds us of their love for the working class and their hatred of right wing governments.
The album acts as an anthology of the duos work, starting from 2013 and their breakout hit McFlurry up until their 2019 UK independent chart topping album Eton Alive. Some of their more popular older songs such as Tied Up in Nottz, Fizzy and Tweet Tweet Tweet have gotten remasters, which gives listeners the ability to pay closer attention to Wiliamsons more wittier lyrics of songs like Jolly Fucker.
“Fish fingers, take the batter off. I can't believe you had kids. Fuck off!”
Seven of the twenty-two songs are unreleased tracks which provide some of the more interesting beats and samples from Fearn. Rochester plays around with by far the funniest samples of the retrospective album with coughs and comedic car horns that one may find out of a cartoon. This all underlies a message of a East London town falling plague to facist narratives and fake news.
“Twitter serves up your lie.”
It’s here where a release like All That Glue in 2020 proves to be so important. With a decade just gone with so much political and class strife, Sleaford Mods reminds us that the working-class should be angry at governments and that we’re the ones at the end of the day that should matter. This just isn’t your normal ‘best of’ album, but it’s a record that shows the rise of fame of such an influential band in not just the UK but the world. Don’t sleep on buying and/or listening to this record or I will happily give you one hell of a Jason Williamson “FUCK OFF!”.