Idles released their second album in 2018, to considerable hype. Late to this one, I'm happy to report that the hype is justified. The band pack bucketloads of energy and intelligence into these 12 songs. Opening with Colossus, the song befits its title as it lurches in on a foreboding repeated chorus, with singer Joe Talbot crooning "forgive me father I have sinned, I drank my body full of Pimm's", which is actually brilliant. The first half sounds liek a great, forgotten Protomartyr song, then the music falls away before barreling back in on an amped up Iggy Pop-style rave up. Highlights are all over this album, from the brilliantly-titled Never Fight A Man With A Perm which is one of several songs to take an old lyric and reappropriate it "these boots are made for stomping... one of these days these boots are gonna stomp all over you".
Danny Nedelko is one of the few 'pop' moments, with its positive message: "My blood brother is an immigrant, a beautiful immigrant ". Love Song's dirge-like guitars become a call to arms with Talbot exclaiming "I fucking love you, look at the card I bought, it says I love you". The saddest moment on the album is June, channelling the sad loss of a child in the lyrics ("baby shoes for sale, never worn").
The stomping Samaritans cleverly references Nirvana: "I love myself and I want to try". Clearly the band are students of music, but these clever references would amount to little without Mark Biden's pile-driving riffs. They even find time to fit in an irreverent cover of Solomon Burke's Cry To Me, displaying little reverence for the original.
Definitely one of the most exciting albums I didn't get around to last year. This, combined with their live shows, establishes this band as one that matters.
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