This past February saw the release of “Tangk” by U.K. rock band Idles to significant acclaim. Whatever momentum the band has been riding from its four previous studio releases seems to have not lost steam. If anything, the band has taken advantage of the celebratory demeanor of its audience by creating an album that behaves like a digitized and dialed back version of previous releases in stark contrast to its hardcore punk foundation.
For context, its first studio album, “Brutalism,” is a high tempo wall of angst that reopens old punk rockers’ emotions and ear canals previously thought too covered in scar tissue to bleed. Songs like “Date Night” and “1049 Gotho” express gut-wrenching lyrics bellowed by Joseph Talbot, the veracious and audacious lead vocalist of the band, unapologetically delivers hymns about decaying relationships, both intimate and drug-fueled. Most bands less secure in its talent would rest on the laurels of what the scene desires and reproduce a second, or third, or fifth helping of the same dish. “Tangk” is a far removal from that practice.
The band is beginning to receive some of the acclaim from the gatekeepers of music in the form of trophy nominations. At the 65th annual Grammy Awards in 2023, Idles received nominations for both “Best Rock Album” and “Best Rock Performance” for its last studio album “Crawler” alongside the accompanying song from that album, “Crawl!” The band was among musical elite in their awards categories alongside Bryan Adams, Brandi Carlile, The Black Keys and Ozzy Osbourne.
Their props have been thoroughly published as well. Jem Aswad of Variety describes it as “One of the most exciting rock bands to emerge in decades,” adding to their description that Idles are “a wild fusion of hardcore punk and experimental electronic skronk.”
Idles remains relevant by continuing to produce studio albums more distinct than its predecessor. For “Tangk,” the band brought a couple of notable producers into the studio. With this production, Nigel Godrich and Kenny Beats worked alongside Idles’ guitarist Mark Bowen.
If those names sound familiar, it’s because they are. Godrich is a famous producer known for producing Radiohead’s “OK Computer,” as well as composing the score for “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” Beats is a hard-working producer from this side of the pond that regularly crosses genres to ply his craft. He’s worked with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Joji, and a laundry list of other pop, rock and hip-hop artists. Couple all this star power with a guest appearance on the album from LCD Soundsystem, and it’s hard to ignore the influences the band has utilized in order to remain fresh, relevant and honest in the production of “Tangk.”
Honesty abounds for Idles’ music. Whether it shows itself in hard and fast synth songs such as “Gift Horse” or “POP POP POP,” or from the low-fi post-punk adjacent ballads like “Grace” or “Monolith,” the theme of artistic honesty comes through with lyrics that both complements the human endeavor as much as it critiques the tragic.
“I only write love songs,” Talbot said in an interview with Apple Music regarding the new album. “But my love songs come from a broken history of trauma, attachment issues [and] loss.”
Talbot’s (and by proxy, Idles) unique interpretation of the world is something that can only be experienced firsthand.
A listener will find themselves captured in the gravity of emotion emanating from the wall of sound produced by Idles in this iteration. Those coming to find that this is their first encounter with the band may become serenaded by the soft-spoken siren song and hypnotic rhythm.
Those that are familiar with the band may find themselves wanting for something more aggressive and instinctively switching back to that Bad Brains album they’ve been listening to since grade school.
Regardless of the proclivities of the audience, they would be hard pressed to find a comparable band of such esteem engaged in more innovative practices within the contemporary offerings from the genre of rock and roll.
