• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

News and entertainment worth sharing – York and North Yorkshire

  • News
  • Things to do
  • Radio
  • Vouchers
  • Categories
    • Business
  • More
    • Comments
    • Advertise
    • Contact us
The GRand York York

Review: Sleaford Mods, The Duchess

Sunday 8 March, 2015 @ 8.46 pm News Simon Godley
Share via...
sleaford-mods-review-main
‘No one is safe from Williamson’s twisted outbursts of rage’: Sleaford Mods. Photographs © Simon Godley

The Duchess, York

March 5, 2015

Sleaford Mods website

Sleaford Mods are a complete misnomer. Neither man who comprises the band of that name comes from that particular Lincolnshire market town; now based in Nottingham, the duo of Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn hail from Grantham and Saxilby respectively.

And nor are they mods. If anything they are outsiders, several steps removed from both popular culture and the music industry.

Together they create the sound of what life is like for so many in the Britain of today. It is grim, repetitive, bleak, often degrading and inescapably austere.

Over Fearn’s incessant, clattering, sparse and brutal soundtrack of drum, bass and cheap keyboards, Williamson spits out his gnarled invective about modern living and the plight of a lost generation.

The world that Williamson visits is a human wasteland, the antithesis of every sunshine holiday brochure. It is one characterised by Jobseekers Allowance and dead end jobs, both characterised by the most mid-numbingly boring of daily routines.

It is one that that is full of faeces and features regular masturbation, recreational drug use born of necessity, old episodes of Tiswas and the occasional flights of escapism that these fleeting moments can bring.

And it is one where absolutely no one is safe from Williamson’s twisted outbursts of rage.

sleaford-mods-singer
Invective: Jason Williamson

Looking for all the world like two regular punters who had just come from the bar, the two men amble onto the Duchess stage and Fearn presses the play button on his laptop.

For the remainder of the show he proceeds to rocks back and forth on the spot, grinning inanely and only pausing to either take another slug from his bottle of Heineken or snap a photograph of the crowd on his mobile phone.

Williamson, on the other hand, is all coiled, twitching movement and barely suppressed fury as he paces back and forth from the microphone before unleashing yet another volley of stream-of-consciousness, an untrammelled, uncensored flurry of thoughts that is cut through with the most vile, stark and foul-mouthed of language.

Williamson is a contemporary James Joyce suffering with Tourette’s. His half-sung, half-spoken voice rests somewhere between that of Mark E Smith and Ian Dury, albeit one that is delivered in an east midlands accent.

In an incendiary performance that not once pauses for breath, we get a brand new song Live Tonight rubbing shoulders with older material such as the caustic McFlurry – Williamson’s withering take on the music business, where he conjoins the Brit Awards and ketamine use – and a raft of songs from last year’s excellent album Divide And Exit, including Middle Men, A Little Ditty, Tied Up In Nottz and the final encore and double-barrelled blast at the monarchy, The Corgi.

sleaford-mods-song
A contemporary James Joyce
sleaford-mods-mic
Enjoy Sleaford Mods while we can

Now in their early 40s and after years of making the most negligible of marks in music, Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn have finally garnered much wider acclaim by expertly joining the dots between nihilism, social marginalisation and wry observations on human behaviour before stapling them all to the mundane soundtrack of many people’s lives.

Yet for all that this newly found success has not come easy, given their views on the plasticity and constant replication of modern show business you do sense that it is something Sleaford Mods do not want to fully embrace.

You also sense that given the relative constraints placed upon Sleaford Mods’ creative scope – their exciting, essential yet limited template can surely only be taken so far – this success is not one that is built to last. We should all do ourselves a huge favour then and enjoy it while we still can.

Superstar Sir Tom Jones to play York Racecourse this summer

The gigs to see in York right now – March 2015

Review: Larry Miller plus support, Fibbers, York

1 Comment
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Jayne Shipley
7 years ago

Just been watching them on Artnight. My jury is out- wish I’d seen them, if only to make my mind up.

0

Footer

YorkMix
News 01904 848 766
Email YorkMix news »
5-6 King's Court, Shambles, York  YO1 7LD
YorkMix Radio
General enquiries 01904 375 029
Studio/competitions 01904 375 030
Email YorkMix Radio »
Selby Superbowl, Bawtry Road, Selby  YO8 8NA
YorkMix is a trading name of YorkMix Media Ltd
Registered in England
Company number: 07814727
VAT number: 154 0364 34
© York Sound Ltd

Copyright © 2022 YorkMix Media Ltd

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
wpDiscuz