Raucously clanging post-punk guitars will never steer you wrong. Ditto grimly grinding basslines, unflagging airtight drumbeats and an unhinged, whip-smart frontman who knows how to turn a phrase and sounds like he’s always thisfuckingclose to losing his shit at any moment.
Bristol’s Idles have them all in spades — and waste no time putting them all into play on their third album Ultra Mono. More imporantly, microphone overloader Joe Talbot and his mates keep this magnificent, malignant racket up for the bulk of this 42-minute corker. If this ceaselessly frenzied, adrenaline-laced mega-dose of spiky guitars, hard-charging aggro and full-throated bellowing doesn’t have you bouncing off the walls of your living room, spilling beer on the dog and punching yourself in the face, you’re obviously doing it wrong. ’Cause they sure ain’t.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Following Brutalism (2017) and Joy as an Act of Resistance (2018), two releases that garnered global critical acclaim, Idles return with their highly anticipated third album — Ultra Mono. Sonically constructed to capture the feeling of a hip-hop record (including production contribution from Kenny Beats), the album doubles down on the vitriolic sneer and blunt social commentary of their past work. Not far beneath the surface of their self-admitted sloganeering lies a deeply complex and brutally relevant album that chews up clichés and spits them out as high art for the masses. This is momentary acceptance of the self. This is Ultra Mono.”
