One of the most compelling and unique acts to emerge in the 2010s, Sleaford Mods demonstrate how powerful music can be—even when it’s stripped down to the barest essentials. Of course, it helps when those elements are as distinctive as the minimalist electro-punk rhythms provided by musician and producer Andrew Fearn and the equally punchy verbal barrage delivered by frontman Jason Williamson. A former session musician for acts like Spiritualised, Williamson initially formed Sleaford Mods in Nottingham in 2007. His vision for the group wasn’t fully realised until two years later, when he met Fearn who was DJing at the time. Soon after, Fearn began providing stark yet inventive underpinning for Williamson’s hilariously acerbic takes on contemporary life. On albums like the duo’s 2014 breakthrough, Divide and Exit, 2017’s incisive English Tapas and 2021’s Spare Ribs, Sleaford Mods get straight to the point by combining the sharpest wit with thrilling displays of aggression.