Spare Ribs sounds like industrial rap, and it sounds like electrical punk. However, the album rarely sounds like a merge between these two sounds. Instead, they shift in front of each other spontaneously. Tracks like “Top Room” offer strictly minimalism rap, whereas “Glimpses” offers a more sophisticated punk-like track. Yet, when talking about Sleaford Mods, sophistication is only measured in centimeters.
Rarely do lyrics feel ambiguous or estranged by artistic licenses in this record. Spare Ribs is straightforward thematically, lyrically, and musically. The political angst of “Out There” is as apparent as the aggression for shallow artists and posers in “Nudge It.” The moody and minimalistic production by Andrew Fearn only heightens the infliction presented by vocalist Jason Williamson.
