Rob’s Album Of The Week: Sleaford Mods’ Eton Alive

There are bands that have no middle ground with their audience. Either people love them or people hate them and there’s a clear lack of anything in between. Sleaford Mods from Nottingham, England are exactly that kind of band and they couldn’t care less about the naysayers. In fact, it seems like they thrive on it with their minimalist post-punk rap style. Their 11th album, Eton Alive, that came out on February 22 via the band’s own label, Extreme Eating Records, marks their continuation of pushing various boundaries.

To explain the anatomy of Sleaford Mods’ sound is fairly simple. Andrew Fearn makes drum and bass samples accented by beats on a laptop. Jason Williamson rants about working class life, the music industry and politics. This time around the beats are more abstract while the bass has more variety in tone. Williamson also isn’t afraid to showoff his singing chops in a few songs as well.

Traditionalists might refer to this kind of music as lazy and without talent, but they’re wrong. Fearn and Williamson are using technology to their advantage while making music that’s completely different than everything else. Williamson is also an incredibly gifted lyricist with his delivery unleashing words from their shackles. With their polarization also comes Sleaford Mods’ brilliance. Lets dive into what this brilliance exactly is…