These new puritans

I might disagree with Jason Williamson's thoughts on IDLES, but Fat White Family have declared they're "100% with" him: "the last thing our increasingly puritanical culture needs right now is a bunch of self neutering middle class boobs telling us to be nice to immigrants; you might call that art, I call it sententious pedantry."

It's disappointing that they've decided to weigh in - partly because there's something unpleasantly cynical about stirring up a beef in a Facebook post flogging tickets for their upcoming tour, and partly because it's nonsense that we live in a "puritanical culture" in which telling people "to be nice to immigrants" is somehow unnecessary. On the contrary, we live at a time when bands like IDLES are essential. Still, I suppose Fat White Family's whole raison d'etre is to get up people's noses, so I shouldn't be surprised that, for perhaps the first time, they've got up mine.

It should be added that they couldn't resist having a pop at Williamson too: "how long are Sleaford Mods going to keep banging on about shit wages and kebabs? There's only two of them and they have NO BACKLINE!$$$$$$$$$$$$$££!!!" As I've suggested, that's not something of which Williamson is oblivious; on the contrary, he's acutely aware of it - which is probably what prompted his antipathy towards IDLES in the first place.