Sleazy Street Is a Guttural Reaction to Modern British Politics

With the next UK general election fast approaching, people are looking back at how the conservatives have done since they became the primary governing body in the UK in 2010. Sleazy Street by Bladderwrack taps into the palpable frustration people in the UK feel about how poorly managed their country is. “Managed Decline” has been the status quo for a long time in UK politics however, this last decade and a bit will go down in history as the point where we gave up on the “managed” part and overachieved in the “decline” department.

The Conservative Party has produced a plethora of career politicians whose malevolence is paralleled only by their stupidity, creating a bizarrely apolitical climate where politicians will do and say whatever they think will propel their own career furthest, not only at the cost of the country but entirely unrelated to whether they believe it to be a good idea or not. This context is crucial to understand the song. Lines like “You are the most detestable tosser on Sleazy Street” require an understanding of the refined mix of evil and idiocy that makes up our government. The phrase “Sleazy Street” also links back to how connected our government is to other wealthy and influential powers in the UK. The “Sleazy Street” referred to in the song could show how the politicians often come from the same privileged backgrounds and, therefore, are all from “Sleazy Street.” It could also refer to the links between our politicians and other questionable industry figures, with them being so close they are effectively neighbours on “Sleazy Street.” An example of this could be our current (at the time of writing) Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak’s wife’s family, owning a significant stake in a company still operating in Russia even while Rishi Sunak asked UK companies to pull out of Russia after they invaded Ukraine.

In a political climate such as this, Bladderwrack’s crunchy guitars, aggressive, bold delivery, and empathic guitar solo bring a sense of catharsis, tapping into the anger of the current moment and ionising it into a solid rock tune. Check it out below.