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Cast your mind back to the late 2000’s, and imagine yourself in the dingy disco room of a pool hall in Bristol. There, you might find IDLES’ Joe Talbot and Adam Devonshire (Dev) running their ‘debauched’ club night early in their career, surrounded by the likes of Johnny Marr, The Cribbs, and Dizzy Rascal (though maybe not staying too long).
Talbot cites that the early-years pool halls were some of the more intimidating gigs they have faced. Now, having conquered the international stages of Glastonbury, Jimmy Fallon (and even CBeebies) the band know what they want to say, how they want to say it, and fear no stage. Love is the ‘Fing is travelling worldwide.
TANGK is IDLES’ fifth and latest album and arguably the most delicate to date. Powerhouse-blazing tracks like ‘Gift Horse’, ‘Dancer’ and ‘Grace’ (the latter featuring a AI-powered deepfake of Coldplay’s Chris Martin from ‘Yellow’), were released as singles prior to the album launch in mid-February, and the tear-jerking ethereal piano-flight of ‘A Gospel’ and the trip-hop-esque melancholy of ‘Roy’, pay testament to the mastery of Joe’s songwriting, the skill of his vocal range, and the maturity of IDLES’ sound.
While IDLES are known for their ‘violent’, raw and explosive sounds, songwriting and performance which, this is driven by passion, rather than anger. In other words, like atoms we collide, we conflict, we clash, and, we come together.
The IDLES charge is electric and the energy unmatched to any performance we have seen in Bristol so far. Privileged to be a fly on the wall of the balcony of the Marble Factory, the band energised mosh pits, crowd surfing, an unrelenting and visceral urge to dance and move, people perched on the shoulders of others or hurdling over the barriers beyond the front row, newly purchased TANGK vinyl thrown about and reaching new heights (hopefully surviving the gig), and even guitarist Lee Kiernan plunging into the swelling crowd - only traceable by following the long chord of his guitar into the chaos. There’s nothing quite like it.
The new albums overwhelming mantra that ‘Love is the ‘Fing’ demonstrates that among the chaos and confusion of the world we live in, love prevails. In time of turbulence and unrest, people are on edge, people are unhappy, and people are fed up with the world around them. There’s a lot of anxiety around, and this is particularly pertinent with Joe and guitarist, Mark Bowen, recently experiencing fatherhood with newfound responsibility and reflection towards the world our children will inherit. But, love is the thing that brings us together, charges our passion brings change.