Idles Uncork One of the Most Innovative Rock Records in Years With the Bruising ‘Tangk’: Album Review
These days it can be all too easy for rock fans to fall into despair. What was the last truly culture-shifting new rock band? The Strokes? The White Stripes? Alternative forms of rock have been thriving, but it’s been a grim two decades for traditional guitar-based rock, as even the powers-that-be behind Grammy nominations seemed to have trouble finding worthy nominees beyond the usual Queens-of-the-Foo-Kings suspects (although they have branched out in recent years).
However, there is thunder on the horizon. While not a new act, British-Irish quintet Idles are one of the most exciting rock bands to emerge in decades: a wild fusion of hardcore punk and experimental electronic skronk with a ferociously commanding frontman in Joe Talbot and two guitarists whose rancorous din shows inspiration from ‘80s indie icons Sonic Youth and Big Black, as well as a strong influence from hip-hop and electronic music. They’re one of the most exciting live acts you’ll see anywhere — a show in New York earlier this month found one of the guitarists plunge deep into the audience on their second song — and the group branches out even further on their fifth album “Tangk,” combining slower, darkly ambient and/or rhythmic songs with the blistering roar their audience hungers for. (They were also rock nominees for two 2023 Grammys!)
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The album’s production — from guitarist Mark Bowen, hip-hop auteur Kenny Beats and Radiohead veteran Nigel Godrich — is suitably next-level, and finds the band going both harder (“Dancer”) and softer (“Grace”) than ever, a dichotomy that is reflected in an utterly awesome official Idles T-shirt that reads, hilariously although not entirely accurately, “Hard rock for softies.”
Lyrically, they have a refreshing and dare we say sensitive take on everything from politics to personal relationships, taking on toxic masculinity, totalitarianism, British politics (Tabot shouted “Fuck the King!” onstage last week as many times as a Coachella performer says “Make some motherfuckin’ noise!”) and more. However, they’ve dramatically dialed down the preachiness of their earlier albums in favor of a more measured approach: It’s an artful mashup of “Vulnerable / Strong like bull,” as Talbot sings; the most traditionally punk song here is actually called “Hall & Oates.”
Yet amid with all that, the band never loses sight of creating memorable songs: As they’ve become more technologically adept, they’ve also stripped things down. “Dancer,” maybe the strongest song here, is entirely based around a single repetitive bass note and the rhythm, with Talbot singing over the top and the guitars careening in and out: It’s an arrangement more reminiscent of a hip-hop track than most rock records, although the template isn’t worlds away from AC/DC’s use of tension and release. If there’s a more innovative and exciting rock album coming in 2024, we can’t wait to hear it.
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