what's your opinion on idles?

[s_mcsleazy]

so in my group of friends, there's a lot of discussion about the band idles but i was kinda curious what the overall consensus is here. personally, i have mixed feelings on them.

on one hand:
i like that there's a band out there that's doing that style of post-punk/post-hardcore.
i've heard good things from people who've met members (more than i can say for another band)
i like they prioritize an energetic live shows.
i like there's a band out there that's actually tackling current UK politics (because god knows the current landscape here is grim)
i also love that it's a band of just normal looking dudes in their 30's in a music industry that works on logan's run rules.

on the other hand:
i find their lyrics very simplistic at times.
i find the level of irony they work on kinda irritating at times.
i sometimes listen to them and get this feeling "well why don't i just listen to one of the bands they're clearly taking influence from?"
my friend once described them as "jesus lizard if they listened to gang of four for 6 weeks straight" and i've never been able to take them seriously after that.

what do you all think?

[sal paradise]

A few of my friends were obsessed with the live show, watched them a lot of times around the first album. They had a moment. Crawler was an interesting concept that didn’t work. Lost interest after that.

[seenoevil II]

That first album was securely lodged in my skull for most of 2020.

It was fun to see a band happening. It's like if a bunch of dads started building a treehouse, but it kept getting bigger and bigger and then floated off into the sky.

But I feel like they happened and now it's over. And that's the thing about punk. It's like an orgasm or popping a zit. It's cathartic. Then, it's done. Same with The Chats, The Hives and a few others. They usually keep going, and they'll have die hard fans forever, but really, the magic is gone. And that's fine.

[MechaBulletBill]

i find their lyrics very simplistic at times.
i find the level of irony they work on kinda irritating at times.
i sometimes listen to them and get this feeling "well why don't i just listen to one of the bands they're clearly taking influence from?"

basically the same for me. they certainly weren't the only ones i thought this about but when a band comes out of nowhere, then becomes unavoidable - constant radio play, endorsement deals for gear and adverts all over socials, that kind of thing - and it's baby's first riff over student bar political declaration? i'm too old for that stuff. and then album 2 was more of the same, bloody yanks discovered 'em.... not for me. they seem like nice people though!

[X-Ray Spex]

Great band. I first heard and really connected with the Joy As An Act Of Resistance album, I'd never actually heard a band with lyrics that I connected to or spoke to my own experience as your standard straight white male especially the tracks that focused on toxic masculinity.

I saw them on that tour in Dublin in 2019, I've never been to a gig before where the ENTIRE audience was a moshpit, but a friendly one if that make sense?

The timing of it and the fallout of Brexit was perfect too, Danny Nedelko etc. They really capitalised on the moment.

I haven't really connected as much with their later works, I thought it was really weird how the next album Ultra Mono after they put it out, and then tried to walk it back for some reason saying it was a caricature of what the band is. I thought it was fine as an album.

I like the later albums going a bit post punk and expanding on their sound with Bowen sampling guitar parts on ''Car Crash'' or ''Grounds''.

I'm going to see them supporting LCD Soundsystem next year, I'm really looking forward to it.

[Nudger]

Heard their Danny Nedelco when it fist came out and thought yea, great social commentary! Snippet of UK life, much like a 21st century answer to the Jam without the subtlety.
Heard another song, probs their follow up and thought "one trick pony,bunch of whingers"

[Nudger]

Heard their Danny Nedelco when it first came out and thought yea, great social commentary! Snippet of UK life, much like a 21st century answer to the Jam without the subtlety.
Heard another song, probs their follow up and thought "one trick pony,bunch of whingers"

[welshywelsh]

Love them, even more live.

For me it's the restraint in all the guitar parts that makes it work so well. Yes it's simplistic, but each sits so perfectly in it's sonic territory that it's just a huge sound.

[panoramic]

over the talk singing shit pretty much across the board in 2023

[F15hface]

I love Brutalism and Joy As an Act of Resistance and they've been great every time I've seen them, from 200 to 2000 capacity venues. Ultra Mono was alright and I never got around to listening to Crawler. I'm hoping their new album is good, but wouldn't want to see them at Alexandra Palace - not a great venue and a massive pain for me to get home from.

[mikeehairdo]

I started listening to them when they put out Joy as an Act of Resistance and absolutely fell in love with that record. It felt like they captured lightening in a bottle, one of those albums that was a real cohesive collection of songs, and years on I maintain that. What got me was the almost non-musicianship of the band. The beat was always tight, but between the biting vocal delivery that noisy-chaotic-yet-somehow-still-hooky guitaring, it really energized my own songwriting that year. I really love that album.

I worked my way back from there, and I like Meat and Brutalism in retrospect; they both felt like the band was building towards Joy. UltraMono and Crawler had a few bangers, and I like that they're still writing and releasing stuff, I just kind of fell off after that.

Going to see them for the first time in Montreal next September, so I'll finally be able to experience this live performance I keep hearing about. I'm very excited for that, but once I see 'em, I think they'll be one of those bands that I scratch off my list and let be a time and a place for me.

[BlixaFan]

i think they are great, i don't think they missed the mark at all with Crawler. it's a banger, and also a great sounding album in terms of production. Real World Studios FTW
I also quite dig Ultra Mono. "War" was the song that caught my attention.
I look forward to the new album. I love their energy, they give me the same feelings as listening to early Birthday Party.

[distressed]

Sounded interesting at first listen but pretty shallow overall. I'd probably enjoy them if I was in my twenties.

[BoringPostcards]

They’re OK. Nothing mind-blowing or innovative. Just a few blokes having a time playing some punk-adjacent music.

[sal paradise]

Pop-up at brick lane. I’ll give the new album a listen at some point, but yeah not particularly been into any of their music for a long time.