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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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Norton Canes

Got to be Haha Sound for me, Clive, and the accompanying Pendulum EP, which features their best song, Still Feels Like Tears.

The Mollusk


I do like the bizarre French concert video they did, which is on YouTube. When they are playing to a bunch of actors who are pretending to be at a wedding.

sevendaughters

FB recommending me faux Idles now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq7u9LTaR9A



Recent album is called Whats So Great, Britain?

Mental.

kngen

This fucking live review from the Graun - https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/sep/05/idles-review-clifton-downs-bristol-joe-talbot-homecoming - 'a 10-legged Phil Collins', for fuck's sake. Had to rack my brains for a while to get that hugely topical reference.

My heart goes out to the duty sub who, it being a Sunday, would be in on their own, with about a 50/50 chance of getting a senior editor on the phone to say 'Have you seen this shit? For the love of god, get them to refile a proper review.'

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that someone who thought that reading Idles lyrics rather than having that oaf shout them at him unfairly diminishes them would think that this was good copy worth submitting. Maybe he shouted it down the phone to the copytaker.


The Mollusk

Haha fucking hell that's woeful. Was tempted to rip it to bits like by like but really if you're writing shit like that you're just ripping yourself to bits.

This is great though:

QuoteIdles gigs are framed as a collective release

Yeah I'm pretty sure that's true of all gigs, not just IDLES gigs. "Yeah there's gigs and then there's IDLES gigs mate. You haven't really been to a gig unless you've seen IDLES." Fucks sake.

ProvanFan

There's a TORY in my cereal
There's a ROYAL on my toast
I'm stirring THE DAILY MAIL into my tea
It's a CUNTIMENTAL breakfast

imitationleather

Quote from: The Mollusk on September 06, 2021, 05:23:46 PM
Yeah I'm pretty sure that's true of all gigs, not just IDLES gigs. "Yeah there's gigs and then there's IDLES gigs mate. You haven't really been to a gig unless you've seen IDLES." Fucks sake.

Can always spot someone who's never been to an IDLES gig from miles off because they say stuff like this.

idunnosomename

Quote from: kngen on September 06, 2021, 02:29:45 PM
This fucking live review from the Graun - https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/sep/05/idles-review-clifton-downs-bristol-joe-talbot-homecoming - 'a 10-legged Phil Collins', for fuck's sake. Had to rack my brains for a while to get that hugely topical reference.
Fucksake. I was thinking it had something to do with the M4 at first. Playing an afternoon gig in Bristol and then a evening one in London is so absurdly different to taking Concorde so you you can play Wembley and Philadelphia in the same day I think you need to flag it up a bit more.

Also starting off your review with "some people say it's a bit fucking naff to wear the shirt of the band you're going to see but hey EVERY cunt was doing it here" is a funny start for a 4 star review


Dusty Substance


Don't really have much of an opinion on their music - I listened to Ultra Mono last year as part of something of a lockdown project to hear as many 2020 albums as possible, but it didn't make much of an impact.

However, I find it a little fascinating that the singer, bassist and two guitarists all look like absolute cunts while the band's drummer looks like a bit of a speccy dork.

The Mollusk

So these prongs have got a new album out, have you seen? And a new single as well, the unimaginatively titled "Beachland Ballroom". Of course it's called that, how could they ever risk switching up their sound for a single without sounding so contrived before you've even heard it? A ballad. A sad swagger that stops listeners in their tracks. Whoa, these guys aren't as brave as we thought. They're vulnerable. They've got suits on. They've been hurt.

I've not heard the album yet (I will, don't worry, and I'll be back) but this song stinks of all the same performative twaddle they've been peddling for years now. "Beachland Ballroom" doesn't sound like an artist exposing their weak spots to unite the people with their art, it sounds disingenuous and cheap. A song they know will get the crowds swaying - hey, Talbot sings "sway" three times in the first fucking verse - with little else to it than that. Guaranteed they'll preface this on the live stage with "This one's for anyone who's been hurt". Crowd goes mental. We have, Joe! Might as well just be a song about times when you've been starving and walking down the high street with your mate who can't decide on where they want to eat. Replace the chanting chorus line "DAMAGE" with "HANGRY, HANGRY, HANGRY". Oh, god we've all been there, thanks for writing this song.

My continued problem with IDLES is not that they're the base concept of punk gift-wrapped and churned out as easy to digest pop nuggets - rousing platitudes and big drum beats, basically The Fratellis' "Chelsea Dagger" performed in a rainbow mohawk wig - it's that they and everyone else seem to think they're genuine, that they're the real thing. People on this subforum hopefully already know that I love pop music, but IDLES are touted as being more than that. Because they're in the indie mainstream everyone clutches at this band like they're the life raft that's uniting us all and drifting us towards better times. They're not. Who are they uniting? People who liked this sort of thing in the first place? Older punks who can't be arsed to scour the underground for actually good challenging music and just want something easy to bop to, rowdy millennials looking for a guilt-free riot experience and younger generations who are either too stupid to know this is glossy pap or think it's great that the forward-thinking ideals they vaguely uphold are represented here, by such brave white men who think wearing pink and nail polish is okay.

I don't always like to quote Crass because I think their politics can be ropey and some of their stuff hasn't aged well, but "punk was once an answer to years of crap, a way of saying no when we'd always said yep" can certainly be applied here. It's always been a cynical genre but there's always been a solid underground where people who didn't feel like they had anywhere to go suddenly found somewhere. I sincerely don't believe that's the case with IDLES. We're too far gone, but they've hit a stride and they've continued down their calculated (if you can even call it that, since it appears they put no thought whatsoever into their songwriting) and highly profitable path. If people think that being a pop sensation with their brand of music is the only true next step for punk, I weep. This isn't the resistance or the refuge. Is punk dead? I'd argue not, but IDLES are killing it.

Look at the lyrics for "The Wheel" from their new album:

QuoteI got on my knees
And I begged my mother
With a bottle in one hand
It's one or the other
And so it turns
Again and again

She woke from her slumber
With a crippled stance
She said she missed my brother
And wanted one more chance
And so it turns
Again and again

The wheel

[Pre-Chorus]
And so, it turns
And so, it turns

[Chorus]
Can I get a hallelujah?
The one from the back, now
Can I get a hallelujah?
I hear it from the back, now
Can I get a hallelujah?

Mate. You are Coldplay, no two ways about it.

Kankurette

WE ARE IDLES
WE DO A SONG
WE ARE IDLES
BORIS IS WRONG

Johnny Yesno

Quote from: The Mollusk on November 12, 2021, 10:36:30 AM
I've not heard the album yet (I will, don't worry, and I'll be back)

I am worried. You haven't listened to The Armed yet.

boki

Quote from: The Mollusk on November 12, 2021, 10:36:30 AMMight as well just be a song about times when you've been starving and walking down the high street with your mate who can't decide on where they want to eat. Replace the chanting chorus line "DAMAGE" with "HANGRY, HANGRY, HANGRY". Oh, god we've all been there, thanks for writing this song
Shouting HANGRY, HANGRY, HANGRY
Shouting HANGRY, HANGRY, HANGRY
MEGA BUCKET HOT WINGS
MEGA BUCKET HOT WINGS


Cuellar

Quote from: The Mollusk on November 12, 2021, 10:36:30 AM
Because they're in the indie mainstream everyone clutches at this band like they're the life raft that's uniting us all and drifting us towards better times. They're not. Who are they uniting?

The only people I've heard praising IDLES in real life are ex-public school boys with equity in their PR companies, who feel that offering equity to senior partners is a great way to incentivize hard work because they'll want the business to grow and expand so they get a bigger pay out when the company is sold.

Purple Toupee


The Mollusk

Quote from: Johnny Yesno on November 12, 2021, 11:49:10 AM
I am worried. You haven't listened to The Armed yet.

Sometimes it's easier to engage in something you know you're going to hate than something you might like but don't know yet!

I will get around to them I promise. Just had to stoke the flames of this thread back up again because it brings me great joy to batter this wretched band of turds.

Janie Jones

You may as well complain about George Ezra being bland. Idles are indeed shit but they're for old people. Their audience and the people who buy their music are largely over 50s. As noted on the BBC Radio 6 Music thread, I like their new single and I'm pushing 60. All the edgy posturing is designed to make old people think they are relevant and interesting. You're not the target audience so relax.

The Mollusk

Have you seen their gigs? They're full of younger people going apeshit for it. I've got a lot of friends who are my age (mid-30s) who think they're fantastic and the modern saviours of true punk. The fact that it's also "music for old people" is a byproduct. Or maybe it's the fact that young people think it's brilliant that's the byproduct. They're such a derivative dribble of shite I can't be sure who their target audience is at all, but it would appear they're aiming in all directions and the end result is so scattershot there's barely a direct hit on any of those targets.

The one thing I'm forever grateful for from IDLES is that hating them gives me so much energy. They deserve every bit of flack fired at them though. I know I'm right. I can't be stopped.

Norton Canes

I like them but I hate punk. How does that even work?!

I wonder if anyone is familiar with Fontaines DC, who in terms of lyrical sophistication make Idles sound like Leonard Cohen. Here's a couple of examples.

"Televised Mind"

QuoteThat's a televised mind
That's a televised mind
That's a televised mind
That's a televised mind
That's a televised mind
That's a televised mind

[Verse 1]
Swipe your thoughts from Broadway
Turn ideals to cabaret
Water dreams of yesterday
Fall behind
All your laughter pissed away
All your sadness pissed away
Now you don't care what they say
Nor do I

[Chorus]
That's a televised mind
That's a televised mind
That's a televised mind
That's a televised mind
That's a televised mind
That's a televised mind


[Verse 2]
They're all gulls in the sky
They all mimic love's cry
And I wish I could die
Me or them

[Refrain]
What ya call it, what ya call it, what ya
What ya call it, what ya call it, what ya
What ya call it, what ya call it, what ya
What ya call it, ya call it, ya call it


"A Hero's Death"

Quote[Intro]
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh

[Chorus]
Life ain't always empty
Life ain't always empty
Life ain't always empty
Life ain't always empty
Life ain't always empty
Life ain't always empty

[Verse 1]
Don't get stuck in the past
Say your favourite things at mass
Tell your mother that you love her
And go out of your way for others
Sit beneath a light that suits ya
And look forward to a brighter future

[Chorus]
(Ooh) Life ain't always empty
(Ooh) Life ain't always empty
(Ooh) Life ain't always empty
(Ooh) Life ain't always empty
(Ooh) Life ain't always empty
(Ooh) Life ain't always empty

...you get the idea.

I guess it works for the kind of songs they put out, which are all like simple slogans designed to be sung along to by big crowds, but it does amaze me how basic they are.

Dirty Boy

I keep hearing stuff from this lot and it's always rotten rat shite.

First David Yow worked with them and then JG Thirlwell was recently enthusing about how great they were live. What's going on?
Quote from: Janie JonesIdles are indeed shit but they're for old people. Their audience and the people who buy their music are largely over 50s. As noted on the BBC Radio 6 Music thread, I like their new single and I'm pushing 60. All the edgy posturing is designed to make old people think they are relevant and interesting
Ah.

imitationleather

The existence of IDLES is worth it because of how entertaining it always is to read about much they wind Mollusk up.

The Mollusk

They are the searing white-hot light of the lord and I am a solar-powered vomit machine.

Talbot fucking wishes he could write shit as profound and brilliant as that.

danwho9

Apparently they've decided people in villages and provincial towns weren't actually the real enemy after all: https://www.stereogum.com/2167385/idles-joe-talbot-says-they-wont-play-model-village-anymore/news/

SpiderChrist

From the comments:

QuoteBecause that song specifically is a spiteful generic trope of the usual faux leftist bullshit, raining down upon the lowest common denominator.

Well, it may be that. But it's also a pretty accurate reflection of a village I lived in for 8 years.

SpiderChrist

From the comments:

QuoteBecause that song specifically is a spiteful generic trope of the usual faux leftist bullshit, raining down upon the lowest common denominator.

Well, it may be that. But it's also a pretty accurate reflection of a village I lived in for 8 years.

ETA I don't give a flying one if they play it again or not. It's their song innit, and why not just quietly drop it from the setlist like any other band would, attention seeking cunts.

phantom_power

Quote from: Ron Maels Moustache on November 12, 2021, 05:44:50 PMI wonder if anyone is familiar with Fontaines DC, who in terms of lyrical sophistication make Idles sound like Leonard Cohen. Here's a couple of examples.

"Televised Mind"

"A Hero's Death"

...you get the idea.

I guess it works for the kind of songs they put out, which are all like simple slogans designed to be sung along to by big crowds, but it does amaze me how basic they are.

I think those are great lyrics and display an understanding of the interplay between the imagery of a text and how words sounds with others that is miles ahead of the shit that Idles spew out

The Mollusk

Quote from: SpiderChrist on November 21, 2021, 06:21:33 PMFrom the comments:

Well, it may be that. But it's also a pretty accurate reflection of a village I lived in for 8 years.

#notallvillages