Sleaford Mods The Demise Of Planet X
Sleaford Mods's The Demise Of Planet X arrives as a bruising, often mordant chronicle of contemporary decay, and critics mostly agree its highs are sharply memorable even if the record as a whole feels uneven. Across nine professional reviews the album earned a 62.89/100 consensus score, with reviewers repeatedly point
The Good Life is best for its dramatic cameo, mood swings and inventive surprises.
The album’s strengths are occasional luminous collaborations and moments of personal confession, but overall it risks repeating past formulas.
Best for listeners looking for social critique and nostalgia, starting with The Good Life and No Touch.
Full consensus notes
Sleaford Mods's The Demise Of Planet X arrives as a bruising, often mordant chronicle of contemporary decay, and critics mostly agree its highs are sharply memorable even if the record as a whole feels uneven. Across nine professional reviews the album earned a 62.89/100 consensus score, with reviewers repeatedly pointing to collaborative moments and a handful of standout songs as the record's clearest victories.
Reviewers consistently praise “The Good Life”, which many name the album's central triumph, while “Elitest G.O.A.T.”, “No Touch” and “Flood the Zone” recur as standout tracks that balance raw humour, political satire and unexpected melodic hooks. Critics note Andrew Fearn's evolution in production - minimalist beats widened into garage-dance and pop-tinged textures - and how guest vocals transform Williamsons's spoken-word diatribes into conversational, often vulnerable exchanges. Themes of austerity, working-class grievance, nationalism and social-media decay thread the record, with critics highlighting both its stingy satire and moments of genuine tenderness like “Gina Was”.
Yet consensus also flags repetition and occasional self-parody: several reviewers find the duo's template comforting but at times stagnant, praising the best cuts while questioning whether the album sustains that energy across its running time. Taken together, professional reviews suggest The Demise Of Planet X is worth hearing for the craft of its best songs and the sharpened production, even if its mood swings and familiar rhetorical tactics mean it won’t convert every listener. Below, detailed reviews unpack why the hits land so forcefully and where the record drifts into tedium.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
The Good Life
9 mentions
"Most notable of all, though, is 'The Good Life', on which a hypnotic chorus comes courtesy of Big Special"— DIY Magazine
No Touch
6 mentions
"There’s a cheekiness to the garage-tinged dance rock of ‘No Touch’ featuring Life Without Buildings legend Sue Tompkins"— New Musical Express (NME)
Gina Was
5 mentions
"And Gina Was details a childhood indignity grim enough to send anyone to therapy."— Record Collector
Most notable of all, though, is 'The Good Life', on which a hypnotic chorus comes courtesy of Big Special
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
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 9 critics who reviewed this album
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
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The Good Life is best for its dramatic cameo, mood swings and inventive surprises.
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The album’s core strengths are sharp social critique, inventive production and fruitful collaborations.
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
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The Good Life is best for its vivid, angry opening lines and Williamson’s commanding delivery.
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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
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The Good Life is best for its OTT intro and guest turns that immediately foreground the album's satirical project.
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The album's core strength is its unflinching social critique delivered through minimalist beats, sharp vocals, and strategic collaborations.
Themes
Critic's Take
Sleaford Mods keep up their uncompromising, raw schtick on The Demise of Planet X, where the best songs - “Flood the Zone”, “Gina Was” and “The Good Life” - crystallise the album's power. Williamson's semi-political, absurdist jawing is front and centre, while Andrew Fearn's minimalist beats make tracks like “Flood the Zone” a standout. The record flicks the Vs at a world gone mad, sometimes roaring to life and sometimes settling into a flat wall of noise, but its homegrown collaborations lend surprising warmth. Fans will absolutely love these best tracks, even if casual listeners will have to lean in to hear the method in the mess.
Key Points
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The album's core strengths are minimalist beats, raw humour, political bite, and effective local collaborations.
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
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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.
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The album’s core strengths are sharpened social critique, abrasive electro-minimalist rhythms, and effective use of guest vocalists to add colour.
Themes
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
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The Good Life is best for its haunting catchiness and high-profile collaborators.
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The album’s strengths are sharp social commentary, added vulnerability, and expanded production choices.
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
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The Good Life is best for its hypnotic chorus, guest turns, and a surprising melodic intimacy.
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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 sound incandescent yet stuck on The Demise of Planet X, where the best tracks - notably “The Good Life” and “Bad Santa” - expose both their strengths and failings. David Coleman praises moments of vulnerability and effective guest spots, but indicts the record for sounding self-parodic and miserable. The review singles out “The Good Life” as a decent opener dragged down by Gwendoline Christie, and calls “Bad Santa” lethargic, making clear why listeners question the band’s evolution.
Key Points
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The Good Life is the best track for its vulnerable moments despite a misjudged guest monologue.
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The album’s core strength is raw, incandescent anger, but its stasis and self-parody undermine impact.
Themes
Critic's Take
Sleaford Mods continue to batter at austerity on The Demise of Planet X, but the best songs - notably “Double Diamond” and “Kill List” - turn Williamson's tirades into something like dialogue. Tosiello hears the album's power when a second voice reins him in, so the collaborations and conversational cuts feel like the strongest tracks. He praises Andrew Fearn's rigid, circuitous production on songs such as “Elitest G.O.A.T.” and “Megaton”, which trade fury for stubborn groove. Even when Planet X lapses into vague gesturing, its standouts crystallize the record's blunt, working-class intelligence.
Key Points
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The best song works when Williamson is paired with another vocalist, as on collaborations that rein in his tirades.
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The album's core strengths are its furious spoken-word persona and Andrew Fearn’s mechanical, circuitous production.