You Me At Six hit Number One with 'SUCKAPUNCH', Sleaford Mods get first top five

You Me At Six have shot to Number One in the UK with ‘SUCKAPUNCH’, while Sleaford Mods have secured their first top five album with ‘Spare Ribs‘.

You Me At Six’s seventh album, which was released last Friday (January 15), is now their second Number One following on from 2014’s ‘Cavalier Youth’. Sleaford Mods, meanwhile, have landed their highest-charting album yet with their 11th studio album at Number Four.

You Me At Six frontman Josh Franceschi told OfficialCharts.com in a video: “Thank you to our fans, you guys are incredible. Without you we wouldn’t be here after 15 years.

He also took a moment to address the rockers’ detractors: “Maybe most importantly, thank you to everyone who has caused us pain or wrote us off or said we were done. This is for you. We made this record for you, to remind you to put some respect on the name.”

The majority of the band’s week one chart sales were physical copies (85%), over half of which were purchased from independent record shops. That has also secured them the Number One slot on this week’s Official Record Store Chart.

In a four-star review of ‘SUCKAPUNCH’, NME’s Ali Shutler wrote: “It’s rare for a rock record to feel this exciting, especially coming from a band seven albums deep and, y’know, from Surrey, but every track ‘SUCKAPUNCH’ feels inspired in some way. Making this album made You Me At Six believe in their band again, and you’d be hard-pressed not to keep the faith too.”

Elsewhere, in the singles charts, Olivia Rodrigo remains at Number One with her viral smash ‘Drivers License’. The singer-songwriter’s debut single notched up 13.7 million streams this week – the biggest one-week figure for a Number One single in two years since Ariana Grande’s ‘7 Rings’ debuted at the top with 16.9 million streams in January 2019.

You Me At Six are set to head out on a headline UK tour in May with a series of special album launch shows, including one which will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their second album ‘Hold Me Down’ in July.

Sleaford Mods, meanwhile, are set to take ‘Spare Ribs’ on a UK and Ireland tour later this year including their first UK headline arena show in their hometown of Nottingham. See the dates here.