I think it’s fair to say that in the last decade, no other British band has worked as hard as Bristol punk outfit Idles. It only seems like a few years ago they were playing in tiny venues across the UK and now they packing out arenas and taking high billings on festivals around the world. Their last record “Crawl” saw them evolved their sound whilst still keeping that biting edge and on their fifth album in eight years “Tangk” they’ve expanded that even more.
Opener IDEA 01 begins with a glittering piano and drum loop that’s more akin to Portishead than the Idles of old. There’s no catchy chorus; instead there’s a real sense of foreboding that sets the tone from the off that this is going to be something different. It’s then followed by “Gift Horse” driven by its pulsating base line which is sure to get those pits opened up at the live shows. The same can be said for first single “Dancer”, which is so incredibly funky it’s almost impossible to not just move your hips in time with the beat.
Critics have in the past mocked the band; stating they are just one note angry men with witty pop culture references tacked onto a new punk sound. Hopefully this album will prove them wrong. Tangk is first and foremost a love album; their promotional material in the lead up to its release focussed on the words “Love Is The Thing” which is most prominent during the sublime “Grace”. Rather than a nihilistic look on the world, Talbot is instead looking for the good out there.
Even on “Hall & Oates” which feels a lot more riotous than what we’ve had before in the record again picks up on this theme; “I was walking all alone a preacher with no choir and then you came into my world and set it on fire”. By the time Monolith finishes, you get the sense that this is a turning point from the band. Some may crave those blistering choruses of old; however you can’t argue that their more nuanced approach have made them more collaborative as a unit and for that reason alone makes their journey all the more exciting.