Albums to watch

Spare Ribs

Sleaford Mods

Spare Ribs

Eleventh studio album from the Nottingham-based post-punk duo Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn

ADM rating[?]

8.1

Label
Rough Trade
UK Release date
15/01/2021
US Release date
15/01/2021
  1. 10.0 |   NME

    The Nottingham duo put COVID Britain bang to rights with stunning production, great guests, scabrous lyrics – and a steadfast refusal to offer easy answers
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  2. 10.0 |   Gigwise

    This album is - dare we say it - fucking faultless. Sleaford Mods are out to save 2021 with their boisterous lyricism and hard-hitting production
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  3. 10.0 |   The FT

    Cummings and Covid are two of the subjects touched on by the Nottingham duo as they exhibit an evolving style
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  4. 10.0 |   PopMatters

    Sleaford Mods' 11th studio album runs a glorious gamut from righteous anger to poignant introspection in a masterpiece of incisive cultural commentary and fully realized artistic vision
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  5. 9.0 |   XS Noize

    In this dire world situation, Sleaford Mods deliver a soundtrack for Covid and a treatise on the working man’s existential angst over the world’s current state
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  6. 9.0 |   musicOMH

    Perhaps the album’s most effective moment comes in the shape of Out There, a truly claustrophobic exploration of racism, panic in the supermarkets, conspiracy theory, and division
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  7. 8.5 |   Northern Transmissions

    Spare Ribs displays a remarkable musical effrontery, having a go at assuaging humankind’s vulnerability; on another level, it provides commentary on the world’s present predicament
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  8. 8.0 |   Exclaim

    Sleaford Mods have shown they can do it slow, but they're still much better when they floor it
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  9. 8.0 |   Uncut

    The Sleaford Mods we hear on Spare Ribs sound more comfortable in their own skin, relaxed enough to explore their eccentricities. A tart, sometimes topical edge remains. Print edition only

  10. 8.0 |   Mojo

    After the past 12 months, you might feel you want and need more escapism than Spare Ribs really offers. Yet if everyone's been made to gaze into the abyss this year, it's a relief, a comfort - maybe even a pleasure - to find Sleaford Mods in there, gazing right back at you. Print edition only

  11. 8.0 |   The Arts Desk

    We're here for the sardonic, sweary, sweaty, swaggering belligerence
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  12. 8.0 |   Paste Magazine

    In the midst of a global catastrophe, the British duo gives the gift of ordinary irritation
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  13. 8.0 |   The Observer

    Inspired guest turns add a twist, but the duo’s blazing invention and lacerating lyrics remain the main draw
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  14. 8.0 |   Clash

    Never before has there been a greater need for the full Sleaford Mods treatment than there is now, and the goods are delivered with crisp urgency and precision
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  15. 8.0 |   Loud And Quiet

    It’s their most musical record yet, with more adventurous instrumentation, as well as the vocal features of Amyl and the Sniffers’ Amy Taylor and up-and-comer Billy Nomates, adding further excitement to what is a brilliantly by-the-book Sleaford Mods album
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  16. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    No one else in contemporary pop is creating such vivid and evocative pen pictures of modern life
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  17. 8.0 |   All Music

    Not even a global pandemic and repeated lockdowns can crush their spirit, and Spare Ribs feels like a hearty, timely, and well-deserved two fingers up to the powers that be
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  18. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    Whether you’re aboard the train or not, Williamson and Fearn don’t seem overly bothered. You’re either with them or you’re aren’t; the wheels keep turning
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  19. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    Cue up this acerbic romp through society’s ills the next time you feel a towering tidal wave of universal anger descending
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  20. 6.0 |   The Independent

    A predictably chaotic portrait of mid-pandemic Britain
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  21. 4.0 |   DIY

    Not one for anyone who’s not already won over by the pair’s particular charms
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