Tonight’s musical offering is Post Punk/Grime duo who hail from Nottinghamshire, Sleaford Mods who are supported by up-and-coming support acts: Badger and Big Special.
The genre ‘Grime’ as the name suggests is gritty, dark and offers a narrative that intertwines the bleakness of life told through the eyes of the people who are subjected to the upper echelon of society’s whimsical decisions that keep the working class a cavern away from the Toffs who call the shots! Yes, ‘Punk is not Dead’ as Wattie from The Exploited reminds us, it has just evolved. The lyrical stylings of Sleaford Mods remind somewhat of 90s Electro Punk acts such as: Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine and Irish band Sultans of Ping. It would be remiss not to mention Half Man Half Biscuit too…Even Boards of Canada from a musical perspective and of course Steve Ignorant from CRASS.
In the 70s the first wave of Punks showed their disdain for the governmental policies and hopelessness stemming from joblessness and futureless teens. These feelings are echoed and repeated in 2023, much in the way they were in 1977 as The Guillotines, a Punk band from Glasgow sing ‘Maggie’s Back’. Yes, she is and so are the people pushing back, using music to vent their frustrations and hold a commentary that was as true today as it was in 1977.
Opening up tonight’s show is Badger who I can just about see behind a wall of beer bottles. The beats come thick and fast as the vocals spit and land on the crowd. One thing you’d not expect is a trombone to be whisked out and played. The result is very interesting and works so well to carry that low tone. Next up were Big Special whom I had been reliably informed were a band to keep my eyes on, so it was nice to see them on this bill. The duo are made up with vocalist and live drummer. Their music was warm with pitch-perfect harmonies from the singer, who had one hell of a set of lungs on him. As we say in Glasgow, they were Gallus!
Released on March 10th, Sleaford’s Mods album ‘U.K. GRIME’ is the bands most recent offering. Having started listening to the band when their last album ‘SPARE RIBS’ came out in Jan 2021; I was instantly attracted to their music when I heard Amy Taylor from Amyl and The Sniffers contribute vocals to the track ‘Nudge’. This album also includes the track ‘Mork n Mindy’ that features Billy Nomates. This is a great album to get acquainted with Sleaford Mods.
The duo are made up of Andrew Fearn and Jason Williamson who have been on the go since 2007 and have had an impressive host of record labels behind them including Rough Trade Records. Tonight’s show was one that was pretty busy and if it was not sold out it must be close as dammit. Shoulder to shoulder the crowd assemble to witness the duo take on Glasgow. Straight out the gate, Fearn wasted no time setting the tone with his dancing which he kept up the entire set. Willamson strode on stage and pulled the microphone towards him and started to belt out the lyrics. The lighting was minimal and stark, washed with green and neon blue shrouded the pair with the occasional flashes of white strobe. The crowd nodded and swayed in unison as the music pulsated across the grand old O2 Academy. You could not help but get the feeling you were part of and witnessing something special. Looking round the room the ages varied, and the millennials stood should shoulder with the Boomers and Gen X alike, well that’s at least one thing all three can agree on…Well, in this room tonight!
Sleaford Mods are unique and sit in a box of their own. Their live shows are stripped back, minimal but terribly exciting to boot! It’s not just music, it’s an experience! Go check em out!
Words and pictures: Stevie Oi! @gig_photography_glasgow