Sleaford Mods The Demise Of Planet X
Sleaford Mods's The Demise Of Planet X arrives as a jagged, observant chronicle of cultural decay that blends fury with newly exposed vulnerability. Across seven professional reviews the record earned a 64/100 consensus score, and critics consistently point to a handful of tracks as the album's clearest victories. "The Good Life", "No Touch" and "Elitest G.O.A.T." recur as standout songs, with "The Unwrap" and "Gina Was" also singled out for quieter revelations.
The critical consensus emphasizes recurring themes of consumerism, nationalism, toxic masculinity and social media-driven decline, rendered through Jason Williamson's bile-laced persona and Andrew Fearn's evolving production. Reviewers praise guest contributions and unusual melodic turns - Gwendoline Christie on "The Good Life" and Aldous Harding on "Elitest G.O.A.T." - for softening and complicating Williamson's ranting narrator. Professional reviews note that the duo stretch into pop-flirting and garage-dance textures on tracks like "No Touch", while darker cuts such as the title song and "Megaton" amplify the record's post-apocalyptic Britain motifs.
Perspectives are mixed rather than unanimous. Several critics celebrate the album as a resourceful broadening of Sleaford Mods' palette, calling the best songs on The Demise Of Planet X fiendishly catchy and sharply satirical, while others find stretches of stagnation and repetition that undercut momentum. Taken together across seven reviews, the consensus suggests a band still potent in social critique, occasionally mellowed but sharper in production, with enough standout tracks to make the record worth investigating for fans and newcomers alike.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
The Good Life
6 mentions
"one of the most hauntingly catchy things they’ve done"— The Guardian
No Touch
6 mentions
"the album’s unexpectedly charming highlight, No Touch"— The Guardian
Elitest G.O.A.T.
6 mentions
"the pop-flirting ‘Elitist G.O.A.T’ (assisted by Aldous Harding )"— New Musical Express (NME)
one of the most hauntingly catchy things they’ve done
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
The Good Life
Double Diamond
Elitest G.O.A.T.
Megaton
No Touch
Bad Santa
The Demise of Planet X
Don Draper
Gina Was
Shoving the Images
Flood the Zone
Kill List
The Unwrap
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 7 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
No review text was provided to identify the best songs on Soft Tissue by Tindersticks, or to craft a reviewer-style appraisal mentioning tracks like “New World” or “Don't Walk, Run”.
Key Points
-
No best song could be identified because the review text is missing.
-
No assessment of the album's strengths could be made without the review content.
Critic's Take
Sleaford Mods continue their furious social-voice on The Demise Of Planet X, but it is the hits like “The Good Life” and “No Touch” that stick hardest. The reviewer praises Williamson's potty-mouthed bystander persona while noting new vulnerability on “Gina Was”, and highlights Fearn's broadened production on “Double Diamond”. The result feels both gut-punchingly bleak and unexpectedly charming, which makes these best songs on The Demise Of Planet X stand out amid familiar fury.
Key Points
-
The Good Life is best for its haunting catchiness and high-profile collaborators.
-
The album’s strengths are sharp social commentary, added vulnerability, and expanded production choices.
Themes
Critic's Take
In a bruising, vividly pictured set, Sleaford Mods make The Demise Of Planet X feel like a furious town crier - the best songs, such as “The Good Life” and “Double Diamond”, land with raw, comic bile and vivid imagery. Williamson's voice prowls the record, turning rancour into humour and inventive turns of phrase while Andrew Fearn's production stretches the duo into surprising textures. The pop-flirting sting of “Elitest G.O.A.T.” and the garage-dance of “No Touch” show why these are the best tracks on The Demise Of Planet X, balancing anger with musical ambition. This is the band at their most musically diverse and still uncompromising, a record that pushes their polemic into sharper, stranger territory.
Key Points
-
The Good Life is best for its vivid, angry opening lines and Williamson’s commanding delivery.
-
The album’s core strength is its blend of brutal social critique with surprising musical variety and dark humour.
Themes
Critic's Take
In his characteristically trenchant tone Jimi Arundell presents Sleaford Mods' The Demise of Planet X as another scorched, observant record where the best songs - notably “The Good Life” and “Elitest G.O.A.T.” - seize the album's satirical heart. He luxuriates in the duo's lo-fi brutality and guest flourishes, calling out how Aldous Harding softens “Elitest G.O.A.T.” while the OTT intro of “The Good Life” sets the scene. The review frames these tracks as standout moments that crystallize the album's mission to reflect a broken Britain, making them the obvious answers to queries about the best tracks on The Demise of Planet X.
Key Points
-
The Good Life is best for its OTT intro and guest turns that immediately foreground the album's satirical project.
-
The album's core strength is its unflinching social critique delivered through minimalist beats, sharp vocals, and strategic collaborations.
Themes
Critic's Take
The review finds that Sleaford Mods stick to their known template on The Demise of Planet X, but the best moments - particularly “The Good Life” and closer “The Unwrap” - cut through with unusual intimacy and melodic hooks. The critic praises the hypnotic chorus and Gwendoline Christie’s third-verse turn on “The Good Life”, and calls “The Unwrap” the clearest window into Jason’s mellowed mindset. Elsewhere the album often feels like more of the same, with word-collage tracks such as “Don Draper” and the title track offering texture but little progression.
Key Points
-
The Good Life is best for its hypnotic chorus, guest turns, and a surprising melodic intimacy.
-
The album’s strengths are occasional luminous collaborations and moments of personal confession, but overall it risks repeating past formulas.
Themes
Critic's Take
Sleaford Mods keep sharpening their attack on modern rot on The Demise Of Planet X, and the best songs - notably “Elitest G.O.A.T.” and “The Good Life” - show them at their most venomously melodic. Robert Plummer revels in how guest voices enliven tracks like “No Touch” and “Elitest G.O.A.T.”, giving Williamson’s rants a sharper, stranger counterpoint. The title cut and “Megaton” deepen the record’s sense of doom, but it is the catchier moments that lodge themselves in the skull. This is a record that goes global while staying furious and fiendishly compelling.
Key Points
-
The best song is "Elitest G.O.A.T." because its contrast between Aldous Harding’s singing and Williamson’s rant makes it irresistibly catchy.
-
The album’s core strengths are sharpened social critique, abrasive electro-minimalist rhythms, and effective use of guest vocalists to add colour.
Themes
Re
Critic's Take
Sleaford Mods take a sharper, more expansive turn on The Demise Of Planet X, and the best songs on the record underline that shift. “The Good Life” stands out as a powerhouse opener with Gwendoline Christie’s cameo and jagged mood swings, while “Elitest G.O.A.T.” and “No Touch” show softer, surprising centres that sting in the tail. The record’s humour, inventive production and pointed social critique make these tracks the best songs on The Demise Of Planet X, each revealing new textures in Williamson’s ire and Fearn’s beats. This is Sleaford Mods refreshed, still acidic but more resourcefully evocative than ever.
Key Points
-
The Good Life is best for its dramatic cameo, mood swings and inventive surprises.
-
The album’s core strengths are sharp social critique, inventive production and fruitful collaborations.