Bootlicker by Modern Literature

Birmingham’s favourite post-punk miserablism merchants Modern Literature are back – with an expanded five-piece line up – and a new single.
Modern Literature’s new single Bootlicker is a lesson in taut Kraut rock rhythm performance, syncopated guitar stabs, arpeggios and punchy vocals. Bootlicker is also a visceral warning. It warns of the danger of the populism, jingoism and right-wing isolationism that’s infected the consciousness of our ever-less pleasant land and reminds us of the disdain in which we should hold those espousing such views.
The lyrics reflect on the othering of vast swathes of society through the performative cruelty of the nouveau riche and complacently comfortable. Those who lap up a diet of prescribed contempt cooked up by a sneering press, while conveniently forgetting their own less affluent upbringings. The people that pull the ladder up after themselves. The song combines the dry observation of The Fall at their most playful, the bombast and energy of prime Lydon, a Krautrock groove, and entirely justified vitriol.
Modern Literature are from Birmingham, birthplace of so much that is important and vital about rock music. They combine the post-punk leanings of their forebears with their own unique reflections and stylings. Their pummeling riffs, jagged rhythms and skewed guitar driven sound is usually delivered in a frenetic live performance. Bootlicker is a rare chance to hear them refined, but not restrained.

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