Music – Jeff Hemmings: Sleaford Mods

One of the most remarkable music stories of the last few years has been the inexorable rise of the Nottingham based duo Sleaford Mods. You may have seen them. There’s Jason Williamson spitting rhymes and raps while Andrew Fearn stands there, pint in hand, nodding to the beats he has made on his laptop. Not only are the lyrics by turns acerbic, sarcastic, rude and poetic, like a more angry John Cooper Clarke, they are utterly contemporary in their personal dissections of the socio-political English landscape.

They have also ‘made’ it in their 40s… “Yeah, it is a bit weird,” says Jason. “It still winds people up. Which is good, I suppose. People rubbish it or look down their noses at it, you know. Because we’ve tied it in with this political thing, it gets people’s backs up if they think you’re giving out half-educated information in your songs. It can wind people up to say the least. It’s a tough one, but what do you do? Some people are never ****ing happy.”

After a long spell playing in bands in the ‘90s and noughties, one day it was suggested to Williamson that he combine his vocals with a Roni Size sample. Along with Simon Parfrement (who is still involved with the band as their video director), these two called themselves That’s Sh**, Try Harder, before taking on their present name. It wasn’t until Williamson came across Fearn DJing his own grime-electro music at a club, and together they formed Sleaford Mods Mark II in time for their album, ‘W**k’, released in 2012.

Describing their music as: electronic munt minimalist punk-hop rants for the working class, Williamson is responsible for the words, Fearn for the music. And despite the lo-fi simplicity of Fearn’s music (“It’s really simple, to the point it’s infuriating. I get really wound up by it. Some of it is so unappealing that it makes it appealing.”) and Williamson’s embittered, profanity strewn rants, the duo are becoming – almost mainstream…

Concert Hall, Brighton Dome, Mon 31 Oct, 7pm, £16.50