Sleaford Mods – Eton Alive

Sleaford Mods’ minimal electronic punk is like a splinter in the paw of British music. Irritating, impossible to remove, the pair – Jason Williamson with the words, Andrew Fearn with the stripped down production – have built their own universe, a cottage industry of caustic melodramas hewn from British life.

New album Eton Alive follows the Rough Trade-backed breakout of sorts that was 2017’s English Tapas. Parting company with the illustrious independent, the pair have opted to release the new record on their very own, freshly minted imprint Extreme Eating, a sign of their complete autonomy over its contents.

Barbed, politicised, completely unedited, Eton Alive is 100-proof Sleaford Mods, a distilled slab of electronic noise that expertly pulls the piss out of the powers that be. Lead single Kebab Spider is a relentless boxing combination of digitised noise, a sign of what’s to come. Top It Up takes aim at mindless consumerism, the insidious hyper-capitalism that underpins our each and every action. Firewall analyses the digital environment, with Discourse pulling apart faux intellectualism.

Each step feels measured, unhurried, with Sleaford Mods choosing each word, each sound for maximum impact. There’s a sense that Jason Williamson’s written work – Grammar Wanker and Slabs from Paradise, for example – has enhanced his lyricism, while the decision to record all 12 tracks in Nottingham allows Andrew Fearn to thrive on home soil.

Taking chances while renewing and enhancing their inimitable sound, Eton Alive is a belch in the face of the architects of austerity, a cry of sheer life amid an increasingly deadening environment.

Listen to: Kebab Spider, Firewall