Sleaford Mods at The Ritz in Manchester review

Image: Sleaford Mods 

The demand for bands driven on a political message has shot through the roof in recent years.

In times when youth are becoming more disillusioned with government antics, an outfit with such a blunt and confrontational political message to many is something we've needed for reasons further than just music.

No surprises then when it took all of two minutes into their set for a certain high ranking politician and what activities said politician may or may not have undertaken with a deceased farm animals head.

It's no secret that Sleaford Mods are never going to be the most eloquent of songwriters, but what they lack in intricacy they more than make up for in possessing one of the angriest front men in recent memory, something that a Mancunian crowd was always going to find easy to relate to. (check out their 'Tarantula Deadly Cargo' video below)

There was a cautiousness within the audience in the early stages of the set, which was a shame. Then again though, it's hard to really imagine what a person's supposed to do or how to dance at a Sleaford Mods gig.

It wasn't a case of people not enjoying the show, every tune was greeted with a roar of approval, seemingly it was more a case of punters absorbing the tunes whilst playing and waiting their turn to show appreciation. 

A bit too formal for Williamson though, keen to shake it up a bit, he pointed out how they always had to work harder when they came to Manchester, accompanied by a bombardment of light hearted derogatories.

A combination of that and a few favourites like 'Jobseekers' and 'Tiswas' (above) tempted the crowd into turning their tentative pogo into a much more lively and riled bounce around the Ritz. From that point on it felt much more like a real gig.

It's easy to see why the outfit caused such a big stir when they appeared three years ago. The minimalist, half arsed attitude has a charm and the relevant as ever subject matter captures the disgruntlement of a nation in such a way that hasn't been done in a while.

Punk in any form still has and always will have a place in music. That became clear through the course of the gig purely through the response each track was getting.

People are always going to be pissed off, bands like Sleaford Mods give them people a voice, a voice that we need now more than ever.

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