IDLES: Plastic Punk or Proper Passion?

Written and Edited by Millie Cain.

A spontaneous show under the white lights of Project House, IDLES returned to Leeds for a double show evening celebrating the release of their new number 1 album “TANGK”. A vibrating crowd, the excitement of the sudden announcement of the gig and bouncing off the energy of a brilliant album made for an electric atmosphere. Diving into the crowd with my lovely friend Abbie, glowing in her cherry-red IDLES t-shirt underneath a huge smile, we could feel the anticipation snaking through the crowd. 

To the roars of “Idea 01”, IDLES launched onto stage, a flurry of movement, energy and charisma, lead singer Joe Talbot rested a heavy boot atop of the speakers and leaned into his audience, wearing a colourful “Don’t Mess with Yorkshire” t-shirt that definitely warmed the crowd, especially as he later commented that Leeds was “his favourite city” and his desire to move here from London, once his kids were grown. True or not, the crowd screamed back, wanting to keep Talbot forever in their town.  

They followed up with banger track “Gift Horse” with its addictive baseline as they tiptoe the line between steely electronica and post-punk. Then straight into their ironic single “Mr Motivator” reflecting on their own place as an ‘issues band’, they treated the crowd to their big hitters and the best of the new album. “The Wheel” went down ridiculously well, with the crowd starving for the noise, in between songs the band screamed “Viva Palestine” and repeating an advocate for peace that was reflected by their crowd. New single “Grace” made waves in the room, as well as online upon its release, with the video being a deepfaked copy of Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’ we saw an eerie Chris Martin with Talbot’s falsetto. For this album the band re-engaged with studio wizard Nigel Godrich of Radiohead glory, to co-produce TANGK with hip-hop genius Kenny Beats making for a hugely interesting sound with the blend of Godrich’s beloved analog tape loops and Beats’ in-programmed drums with layered synths that are standout in “Grace”. 

Collaborations on TANGK has really elevated the band’s sound, lead single “Dancer” with LCD Soundsystem is undoubtably strong, with plosive energy pulsing throughout that Talbot describes as “ the violence that comes from the pounding heart of the dancefloor”. With inspiration of the disco scene they experienced supporting LCD Soundsystem’s US tour. 

Closing their set were classics “Never Fight A Man With A Perm”, happily bellowed by a crowd of very permed men, and ending on “Rottweiler” as Talbot dropped back for drums and Bowen, floating around in dress that would make Florence Welch jealous, lead the ending, expressing their love (a word which is mentioned no less than 29 times on TANGK) for their crowd; and their partners, and mothers.  

Now they’re back on top of their game, they’re coming back under fire for previous comments made by older ‘punk’ rockers Sleaford Mods for portraying working class problems as their own, without actually experiencing these and using them as content. Ideas surrounding ‘relatable’ lyrics and songwriting, especially in ‘Scum’. However, after doubling down on their frenzied political attacks, in previous album “Crawler”, we can tell they’ve taken a step back and returned with a different spirit. It’s easy for everyone online to jump on a negative bandwagon, before taking a moment to try to at least support the cause that is being fought over, people have always desired to tear down political bands, even a fellow posh boy lead singer Alex Rice of Sports Team was quick to criticise, yet perhaps many people like these could do some internal reflection. Not that IDLES seemed to care in the first place- loudly announcing in 2019 that they didn’t class themselves as punk at all and Bowen only commented that he was happy to “let them scrap about it themselves”. While they’ve shown sympathy, and a desire to defend the underrepresented, we do need to remember a line between public support and exploitation. They shouldn’t be shunned for discussing issues, but for profiting off them.  

For TANGK they focused on the women in their life, the uneven gender landscape and, of course, their usual tory bashing. With their more recent commitment to family life, Talbot has even recently been on CBeebies ‘Bedtime Stories’, a slightly softer approach than his usual public appearances. While any political band will face backlash, many fans seem to appreciate their consistency to their ideas, and it’s culminated in a Mercury Prize nomination and in TANGK reaching number 1. With 2 unbelievably strong first albums, IDLES made a blast of impact following the wake of Brexit, and the rise of the far right in Britain, followed up with some less impressive records, but have evidently found their touch again.