In matching cargo shorts, Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn stroll on stage to the pounding bass of UK Grim, the title track of their latest album. Then the Nottingham duo hit the gas: Fearn’s drum machine fires off, Williamson shrieks like a bird of prey, and they begin a disgusted state of the nation report. “In England, no-one can hear you scream” he barks, both a threat and condemnation.
UK Grim is the post-punk duo’s fourth album to crack the UK Top 10. Fearn’s minimal electronics fuel Williamson’s nihilist, surreal verses about entrenched inequality, class tourism and total desperation. Against a backdrop of metal sheets, lined up like crash barriers on the motorway, the duo speed through a setlist that spans a decade of righteous anger, before turning their ire on themselves.
