Divide and Exit

Divide and Exit

Rude, crude, and unremittingly in your face, Sleaford Mods fill their third album, Divide and Exit, with indictments of everything from mindless consumerism to unclean rest rooms. Vocalist Jason Williamson’s rants—a blend of rap and slam poetry simmered in working-class bile—are heavily laden with complaints about life in his native U.K. He transcends mere localism thanks to the ferocity of his flow and the sparse but effective musical settings of partner Andrew Fearn. Divide and Exit recalls the sarcastic spew of ’80-era poet John Cooper Clarke, though the targets of Williamson’s wrath are very much of the moment. In tracks like “Tied Up in Nottz,” “You’re Brave," and “Under the Plastic and N.C.T.,” he pours down scatological verbiage upon the boring and the banal as Fearn backs him up with lo-fi beats and sampled guitar shards. Williamson is angry and often bitter, but his wicked sense of humor is ever-present, whether he’s mocking artsy poseurs (“Liveable Sh*t”), recalling inane TV shows (“Tiswas”), or sending up Twitter addicts (“Tweet Tweet Tweet”). As subtle as a brick to the skull, Divide and Exit is the antithesis of (and antidote to) Downton Abbey–style British gentility.

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