Richard Harrison Memphis writes….
Richard Harrison Florida Atlantic writes…
Who is IDLES?
Everyone has heard about IDLES by now. After a raucous performance on Tiny Desk NPR Concert Series, they captured my attention.
Their fame is giant here in the States. I saw them at Shaky Knees festival. Their performance was positively stellar. Jo Talbot was polite to us. Then, he called for us to part like the Red Sea, and everyone did. We surged back into the center, bodies slamming together. I broke my sandal.
The group has yet to release a new album, since CRAWLER.
There is a lot of queer identity lyrics on their records, because they say things like “I put homophobes in coffins.”
A combination of poetry, musicality, and sloganeering, IDLES’ music is bussin’ in more ways than one. They are better than Yes and Nosaj thing. Those bands you have to be stoned to listen to, bands that are bereft of lyrical genius.
My Experience of IDLES
I have been moved to tears, by their records Brutalism, CRAWLER, Joy As An Act of Resistance, and ULTRAMONO. I identify with Talbot’s lyricism, his queerness. I especially like the lyric that goes, “I danced with a Spaniard man…I want to shoot through the night like an angel.” Or, “Praise the Lord” off of Brutalism, their first album.
To me, IDLES is modern rock