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The main theme of Idles’ fifth album is clear and direct. Frontman Joe Talbot shared on social media that it will be a collection of love songs, describing it as an album of beauty and power. However, this announcement may seem unnecessary as writing love songs is not a new concept in the world of rock and pop music.
However, the context is crucial and in this case, we are discussing Idles: the creators of songs such as I’m Scum, Rottweiler, White Privilege, and Never Fight a Man With a Perm. They have gained notoriety for their guitarist who often performs on stage wearing only a pair of Y-fronts. Their rise to fame can be attributed to their debut album Brutalism, a 41-minute-long outpouring of grief and confusion over the death of Talbot’s mother and anger towards the state of the UK. This album was fitting for the year 2017, post-Brexit, a time marked by tragic events such as the Grenfell Tower fire and the Manchester Arena bombing. The Red Cross even described the state of Britain’s hospitals as a “humanitarian crisis.” Therefore, it was unexpected for Idles to release an album of love songs, titled Tangk, using onomatopoeia to capture its impact.
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Yet, despite any expectations, we find ourselves listening to songs titled Gratitude and Grace without irony. These songs celebrate parenthood, new love, taking joy in others’ success, and strong brotherly bonds. One song even compares these bonds to the sound of Hall & Oates playing in the heart. Both Grace and A Gospel could be described as beautiful, with gorgeous melodies and soft vocals accompanied by piano and strings. In Pop Pop Pop, Talbot sings about joy and cheerfulness, a far cry from his previous sarcastic lyrics about British pride.
Initially, there was always an emotional aspect to their work – Brutalism was followed by Joy As An Act of Resistance – but a change began after the success of Ultra Mono in 2020. This album seemed to push Idles’ original style to its limits: everything turned up to the maximum, the desire to incite cathartic collective anger crossing over into simplistic and provocative rhetoric (after much controversy online, the band no longer performs their single Model Village, as they felt its portrayal of small-town life was too sweeping and condescending). Despite its high chart ranking, it sounded like a band on the verge of self-destruction or becoming a caricature of themselves. However, they took a step back with 2021’s Crawler, a deep and introspective exploration of musical ideas that spanned from soul to ambient electronics.
However, Tangk is a more powerful album than its predecessor, successfully achieving an even more extreme change in tone. While Crawler focused on Talbot’s self-destructive struggles with addiction, Tangk maintains Idles’ raw energy. It is filled with clever and captivating concepts: Roy’s chaotic and clattering version of a soul ballad; the eerie buzzing and feedback sounds that flow through Pop Pop Pop; the LCD Soundsystem collaboration on Dancer, which combines post-punk funk with an oddly graceful heaviness; and the subtle nod to Julee Cruise’s atmospheric 1990 hit Falling that lingers in the closing track Monolith.
There are many clever and captivating ideas present, with the least impactful tracks being those that closely resemble Idles’ previous sound. The message conveyed in “Hall & Oates” is enjoyable, but the garage-rock accompaniment is formulaic and the lyrics too obvious: “Word to your mother: I truly adore my brother.” Talbot demonstrates his skill in unexpectedly incorporating a pro-republican sentiment into “Gift Horse,” a song seemingly about his daughter – “Screw the king! She’s the king” – or capturing the moment before a potential romance becomes a reality in “Dancer” – “Our hands brush…my breath moves your hair…I can taste the anticipation on my tongue.”
It’s not surprising that a band who excels in one area also excels in other areas. However, Tangk is quite a surprising album, which may be a reflection of how our expectations have become limited in a music industry that is increasingly influenced by curated playlists and algorithms designed to predict our tastes by giving us more of the same. It could also be a sign of underestimating Idles themselves, who have always been just as likely to fail due to the contradictions at their core as they are to succeed. It’s challenging to create powerful, aggressive music about “impotent male rage,” as Talbot described it, and it’s vulnerable to misinterpretation. While not every track on Tangk is perfect, the majority of them are urgent and effectively convey a message of positivity, making it worth celebrating.
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her favorite podcast, “The Daily”
Alexis tuned in to her go-to podcast of the week, “The Daily”.
Beth Gibbons – Floating On a Moment
Surprising news has been announced about a solo album from the lead singer of Portishead. It has been 11 years since this announcement was made, making the news even more welcome. This is especially true considering the stunning beauty of her song “Floating On a Moment”.
Source: theguardian.com
