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March 28, 2024, 11:43:29 PM

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That band IDLES are still shit, then

Started by The Mollusk, September 28, 2020, 06:55:09 PM

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The Mollusk

Here's Model Village off their new album Ultra Mono.

Fucking hell lads.

sevendaughters

lot of the press now brave enough to say they sound like one note angertoons punching side and down as much as up, seemed always the case.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth


The Mollusk

Quote from: sevendaughters on September 28, 2020, 07:38:00 PM
lot of the press now brave enough to say they sound like one note angertoons punching side and down as much as up, seemed always the case.

Yeah, I saw they'd had a bit of a panning by slightly-less-rubbish bands Sleaford Mods and Fat White Family last year for class appropriation which is sort of fair enough, and the lyrics on the song linked above are actually just ugly and ignorant, whereas they seem to think they hold some massive sense of cultural importance. It's fucking boring.. Yet more playground punk poetry and sloganeering from a band too smug and complacent to actually have to think too hard about anything.

the science eel

There's a band worse than Sleaford Mods?!?

chveik

yeah this post-punk revival stuff makes me sick

rue the polywhirl

I don't know why they bother with music. They'd have far more reach if they instead did their own sketch show on bbc3 or gaming channel on yotube or brought out a range of health milkshakes or something.

The Mollusk

Quote from: chveik on September 28, 2020, 10:06:17 PM
yeah this post-punk revival stuff makes me sick

This isn't post-punk, it's just punk. That's why it's shite.

The Mollusk

My partner's sister's 6 year old loves this new song of theirs, which says a lot.

Chriddof

I don't think that searingly angry, state-of-the-nation underground punk anthems should be sponsored by WeTransfer.

chveik

Quote from: The Mollusk on September 28, 2020, 11:06:38 PM
This isn't post-punk, it's just punk. That's why it's shite.

what's the difference?

Puce Moment

One of them cunts very forcibly tried to sell me a CD (blank except for Idles scrawled with a sharpie) whilst I sat outside Cafe Oto a few years ago. I mean, I really had to tell him to fuck off and mostly everyone else gave him £3 because they clearly didn't want a ruck. Since then I have vowed never to listen to them and have achieved that goal with great success.

The Mollusk

Quote from: chveik on September 28, 2020, 11:14:55 PM
what's the difference?

A staggering lack of ideas. I know you're not a fan of this whole thing but it's very evident to me that, to cite three modern examples, the uninhibited guitar noise freakouts of Parquet Courts' Sunbathing Animal, the Nick Cave-esque dark romantic poetry of Protomartyr's Relatives in Descent and the bold, sprawling ambition of Preoccupations' Viet Cong are substantially leagues ahead of this one-note garbage.

IDLES are undeniably just a spruced-up pop imitation of their influences. I see a lot of fans comparing them to The Jesus Lizard but the truth is there's a brooding subtlety and a well-honed flair behind TJL's aggressive demeanour that Talbot and his gurning compadres are simply unable to grasp. What people fail to acknowledge, due to being either too old or too young or too stupid, is that IDLES' success lies primarily in the fact that they have been championed by stuffy institutions like Kerrang! and Steve Lamacq, rinsed and repeated for their catchphrases and simplistic stomps which are just easily digestible radio fodder. They're celebrated for taking punk/noise rock back to its roots with a woke modern twist, but beneath the veneer of Hawaiian shirts and lashing out at the patriarchy and "look at us not taking punk seriously" photoshoots, they're just a boyband with very little to say.

Their core ideals don't extend much beyond the chanting hooliganism and endless similes of Talbot's piss-awful lyricism. The lyrics on Model Village are bordering on offensive stereotyping from a pack of blinkered city boys, and barking "I raise my pink fist and say 'Black is beautiful'" on Grounds stinks of that same ballpark of white male privilege that they claim to be lambasting but are actually stumbling right into. They also recently found themselves in a spot of bother for not offering equal pay to female support acts. Sure, they made steps to rectify this as soon as possible, but in 2020, given their apparent stance on these issues, isn't that just the bare minimum effort? Try harder you fucking simpletons.

And then there's the trademark get-out clause of every crap band: "But they're really good live!" Well, I'd argue that's not exactly hard when your music is so woefully basic that any added flourish or embellishment on stage would be a marked improvement. The primal aggression of their sound is less Drive Like Jehu and more just postmodern football chants. You can see why they're so popular with first generation punk rockers when aesthetically they're not too dissimilar from bone-headed punk staples like The Ruts or Sham 69. "They've got the kids united! Look at the size of that festival mosh pit!" Do you know how fucking easy it is to get a mosh pit going at a festival? You could give a bloke a megaphone and get him to strip down to his pants and yell "FUCK JAMES BOND" over and over and people would be falling over themselves in a heartbeat. Oh wait, that's actually what IDLES do, isn't it?

Norton Canes

Curse their easily digestible radio fodder, with its woke modern twist

Norton Canes

Quote from: The Mollusk on September 29, 2020, 10:24:50 AM
You could give a bloke a megaphone and get him to strip down to his pants and yell "FUCK JAMES BOND" over and over and people would be falling over themselves in a heartbeat

Fucking RIGHT! I'd be at every gig just for that moment.

sevendaughters

didn't quite get the equal pay for women thing. sounded like they offered a band some money and they thought it wasn't enough, even weighed against the nebulous concept of 'exposure'. opening acts just don't get the same. they just don't. their music is shit enough without asking them to be 100% egalitarian in every decision they make.

The Mollusk

Quote from: Norton Canes on September 29, 2020, 10:39:35 AM
Curse their easily digestible radio fodder, with its woke modern twist

I've got nothing against pop music and I've made that abundantly clear many times on this forum. You're missing the point.

Norton Canes

Quote from: The Mollusk on September 29, 2020, 10:24:50 AM
They also recently found themselves in a spot of bother for not offering equal pay to female support acts. Sure, they made steps to rectify this as soon as possible, but in 2020, given their apparent stance on these issues, isn't that just the bare minimum effort?

They went a bit further than 'bare minimum effort'

Quote
Try harder you fucking simpletons

Hmm.

Rizla


The Mollusk

Quote from: sevendaughters on September 29, 2020, 10:45:45 AM
didn't quite get the equal pay for women thing. sounded like they offered a band some money and they thought it wasn't enough, even weighed against the nebulous concept of 'exposure'. opening acts just don't get the same. they just don't. their music is shit enough without asking them to be 100% egalitarian in every decision they make.

Not all support bands are shit (especially not Nadine Shah), some of them go on to become successful lead acts you know?

Also, the issue stemmed from female support acts being paid less than male support acts, not support acts campaigning to be paid the same as the headline act.

sevendaughters

still don't get it, it's not like a salaried job, bands have an expected rate to go for and they or their agent set it for them, this is my experience of support slots/festival shows. i honestly imagine Idles are generally good guys who are on the right side (if very performative and simplistic), i'm not going to believe that tosh about those being most vocal have the most to hide (like what tripped Hookworms up).

The Mollusk

Quote from: Norton Canes on September 29, 2020, 10:49:01 AM
They went a bit further than 'bare minimum effort'

Hmm.

Hmm indeed. Maybe as a band who's been attacking patriarchal standards since day one, they should have been ensuring gender equality in one of the most integral areas of punk expression - the live music scene, a rallying soapbox arena for spreading their alleged standard-shifting ideas - a long time ago? It really isn't difficult. Owning your mistakes is a wonderful thing but they should have known better.

The Mollusk

Quote from: sevendaughters on September 29, 2020, 11:01:34 AM
still don't get it, it's not like a salaried job, bands have an expected rate to go for and they or their agent set it for them, this is my experience of support slots/festival shows. i honestly imagine Idles are generally good guys who are on the right side (if very performative and simplistic), i'm not going to believe that tosh about those being most vocal have the most to hide (like what tripped Hookworms up).

No, I don't believe that about them either. I just think they're extremely basic, and if they're going to be basic they should get better representation as they very quickly achieve widespread acclaim and a massive dedicated fanbase.

earl_sleek

Never been able to see what the fuss about them is, they're much less than the sum of their influences.

Brundle-Fly

Quote from: The Mollusk on September 29, 2020, 10:24:50 AM
A staggering lack of ideas. I know you're not a fan of this whole thing but it's very evident to me that, to cite three modern examples, the uninhibited guitar noise freakouts of Parquet Courts' Sunbathing Animal, the Nick Cave-esque dark romantic poetry of Protomartyr's Relatives in Descent and the bold, sprawling ambition of Preoccupations' Viet Cong are substantially leagues ahead of this one-note garbage.

IDLES are undeniably just a spruced-up pop imitation of their influences. I see a lot of fans comparing them to The Jesus Lizard but the truth is there's a brooding subtlety and a well-honed flair behind TJL's aggressive demeanour that Talbot and his gurning compadres are simply unable to grasp. What people fail to acknowledge, due to being either too old or too young or too stupid, is that IDLES' success lies primarily in the fact that they have been championed by stuffy institutions like Kerrang! and Steve Lamacq, rinsed and repeated for their catchphrases and simplistic stomps which are just easily digestible radio fodder. They're celebrated for taking punk/noise rock back to its roots with a woke modern twist, but beneath the veneer of Hawaiian shirts and lashing out at the patriarchy and "look at us not taking punk seriously" photoshoots, they're just a boyband with very little to say.

Their core ideals don't extend much beyond the chanting hooliganism and endless similes of Talbot's piss-awful lyricism. The lyrics on Model Village are bordering on offensive stereotyping from a pack of blinkered city boys, and barking "I raise my pink fist and say 'Black is beautiful'" on Grounds stinks of that same ballpark of white male privilege that they claim to be lambasting but are actually stumbling right into. They also recently found themselves in a spot of bother for not offering equal pay to female support acts. Sure, they made steps to rectify this as soon as possible, but in 2020, given their apparent stance on these issues, isn't that just the bare minimum effort? Try harder you fucking simpletons.

And then there's the trademark get-out clause of every crap band: "But they're really good live!" Well, I'd argue that's not exactly hard when your music is so woefully basic that any added flourish or embellishment on stage would be a marked improvement. The primal aggression of their sound is less Drive Like Jehu and more just postmodern football chants. You can see why they're so popular with first generation punk rockers when aesthetically they're not too dissimilar from bone-headed punk staples like The Ruts or Sham 69. "They've got the kids united! Look at the size of that festival mosh pit!" Do you know how fucking easy it is to get a mosh pit going at a festival? You could give a bloke a megaphone and get him to strip down to his pants and yell "FUCK JAMES BOND" over and over and people would be falling over themselves in a heartbeat. Oh wait, that's actually what IDLES do, isn't it?

Is it because they're not American or Canadian that you particularly don't like them or Sleaford Mods?

sevendaughters

I've definitely warmed to Sleaford Mods. There's more going on than angry posturing, which is how it comes off on a cursory listen.

I play in a band that, in the one country (France) that thinks we're okay, draws comparisons to both. It's a source of light annoyance as I don't think we do sound like either, but to them it's a compliment as they enjoy this vision of post-industrial agit-prop ranting.

I mention this not to promote myself: it's just that I think some of my feelings about Idles are probably mixed up in the way ego acts up when it is challenged. To a certain perspective they are a more successful me, when I'm not trying to be them at all.

Still think I'm right to not like them.

The Mollusk

Quote from: Brundle-Fly on September 29, 2020, 12:00:55 PM
Is it because they're not American or Canadian that you particularly don't like them or Sleaford Mods?

No. Why do you ask?

Brundle-Fly

Because I know you're an aficionado of alternative/hardcore American rock and in your post cited several U.S acts and one Canadian you believe to be superior to Idles and then derided two very English old street punk bands.

The Mollusk

Quote from: sevendaughters on September 29, 2020, 12:13:00 PM
I've definitely warmed to Sleaford Mods. There's more going on than angry posturing, which is how it comes off on a cursory listen.

Same. I can be a bit unfairly dismissive of them because my attention span struggles to grip on to their particular brand of repetition. I think it's Williamson's vocals paired with the deliberately drab backing tracks which stop me from being completely swept up in their thrall like I would be with other music of a similar vein, like the devastating cadence of hip hop or the hypnotic trip of krautrock. Regardless, when I can bring myself to properly focus on it, they are a really smart group. I've long been a not-so-secret admirer of their early track R&B Paul, it's a fucking belter.

Quote from: Brundle-Fly on September 29, 2020, 12:40:36 PM
Because I know you're an aficionado of alternative/hardcore American rock and in your post cited several U.S acts and one Canadian you believe to be superior to Idles and then derided two very English old street punk bands.

Yeah, it's a fair assumption. I think it's partly coincidence (though I do think Americans largely do this sort of sardonic snarling music much better, from Dead Kennedys to Daughters) but there are a number of non-American bands in this sort of vein that I've got time for. Iceage, Girl Band, Shame and black midi are four that spring to mind.

Brundle-Fly

Quote from: The Mollusk on September 29, 2020, 12:56:51 PM

Yeah, it's a fair assumption. I think it's partly coincidence (though I do think Americans largely do this sort of sardonic snarling music much better, from Dead Kennedys to Daughters) but there are a number of non-American bands in this sort of vein that I've got time for. Iceage, Girl Band, Shame and black midi are four that spring to mind.

The ongoing US Punk Vs UK Punk wars put Blur Vs Oasis war to shame. Talking of which, I know Shame ( seen them live. V.good.) but not the others.  Will have a listen. .  Do you like The Moonlandingz?