Keep calm & listen to IDLES

Alex Boucher
Sep 5, 2018 · 2 min read

My hunger for new music has never gone away, despite now being the age where it’s expected to have 5 stock albums that should be played in the car, at dinner parties, your own funeral.

The good thing is there are now more places to find it, thanks to music streaming services. Back in the day, if you didn’t read NME, listen to the Evening Session or were a regular gig-goer you could be missing the next big thing. Anyway, discovering new bands has always been a passion and I tend to get very precious of them when the rest of the world discovers them. Which is where we seem to be heading with Bristol-based punk outfit IDLES.

Ironically, I can’t remember how I came across them. Probably a new music playlist. Regardless, after listening to “Well Done” and then their blistering debut album “Brutalism” I was an official fan.

I saw them perform 3 times in 2017, each gig better than the last. They play with such energy, force and passion it’s hard not to get caught up and just join the fray. They look after their audience. Frontman Joe Talbot reassures the crowd, reminds us how fragile humans are, asks us to love ourselves.

What struck me with this band were the lyrics. Mental health, living in poverty, escaping the drudgery of small towns, bigotry, what’s expected of people. The new album “Joy As An Act of Resistance” goes one step further and addresses the tragic loss of Joe Talbot’s daughter with the song “June” — “Baby Shoes never worn” is a line that will always stay with me.

Shining a mirror on the state of our country, what we’re becoming, even caring more about the High Street than who might be the next James Bond, nothing is spared over these 2 albums.

And then there’s the Facebook group. A community of over 7,000 members and so far (touch wood) all is love. Posts about dealing with mental health, personal tragedies, anxiety, and many pics of vinyl, merch and sweaty fans smiling with the band; it really is a gift that keeps on giving.

I’ve never been part of an online forum where everyone is just nice and looks out for each other.

Long may it continue.

Listen to IDLES on Apple Music, Spotify, all good streaming platforms. Or better still, go down to your local record shop and buy the album. And make sure you catch them live.

Search for ALL IS LOVE: AF GANG (IDLES Community) on Facebook.

Alex Boucher

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