SLEAFORD MODS 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Sleaford Mods have long dealt in biting, angry and frustrated social commentary. Right now, they're not short on inspirations, and it's this that makes 'UK Grim' such a terrific album. Throughout, mic man Jason Williamson takes aims at the ills of the UK and the increasingly dark, nasty rhetoric of the Conservative government that he so clearly detests. Combine these inspired vocal diatribes (shout-along hooks included) with backing tracks that don't shy away from making things heavy, paranoid and intense - think warped, weighty basslines, lo-fi drum machine rhythms and fuzzy, scuzzy, post-punk guitars - and you have one of the Nottingham duo's most hard-hitting and breathlessly brilliant albums to date... and that's saying something.

Review: Considering it was only last year when Sleaford Mods dropped their prized UK Top 10 LP 'Eton Alive' it's almost jarring they should now unveil a Best Of, of sorts. It's hardly time to reflect when you're one of the most vital acts in contemporary British pop. But then the record stands up on its own merit, too, more than living up to the name by offering an insight into the ties - or rather tracks - that bind together the outfit's seven year career to date. Those familiar with the work of Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn will not be surprised to learn the contents here are visceral, heartfelt, stubborn, angry, and stood with tongue firmly in cheek. Observations from an island still riddled with inequality and led by donkeys, set to the kind of catchy but raw guitar, sequencer and drum work that can't help but take you for a ride.

Review: Perhaps unexpectedly for some given they're a band comprising a furious and profane man and another drinking lager whist staring at his laptop, Sleaford Mods have proved themselves on outfit ready to take on the world. Moreover, 'English Tapas', their fourth record to date, proves that they're only growing in stature and vitality with each record, but proving themselves a band who transcend genres as effortlessly as they summon up a particularly timely and unique brand of fierce invective. Place 'em on a lineage involving John Cooper Clarke, The Fall and The Streets if you like, but 'English Tapas' is very much of the now and possessed of a gritty intensity that is all this duo's own.