Idles – Joy As An Act Of Resistance

I don't know how, but I found this copy sealed in perfect conditions for only $30. It's perfect. This must be a Christmas miracle.

This deluxe version is now being repressed, check Idles merch store for more info

The IDLES are a great addition to MUSIC. Strong counterpoint to our culture. A living force within ART.

Is there no limit to the limited editions? Another one coming up for JAAAOR. . . “Rough Trade Exclusive on berry coloured vinyl. Limited to 1000 copies. Released 14/07/2023.” I've got this version dressed up with gold glitter. I like glitter, but to be honest, it took me a while to like this cover and accompanying prints. Now I understand the IDLES, their message and their humour, I have come to appreciate the album artwork.

The Idles are a lovely group; fun, well-meaning lyrics, Joe Talbot is a strong vocalist, interesting in interviews. As a band they ALL play great LIVE. And it’s nice to see them getting on with each other. Ahhhhhhhhhhh, cuddly, furry lads excitedly expressing their angers against, racism, toxic masculinity, prejudices etc. It all comes from the heart. What more could you want?

The way they embrace their masculinity in its full potential is a strong, honest message to anyone with or without questions. They are not going to be told what to do, will express their freedom as rightfully theirs. I deliberately use the word strong a lot in this piece. Masculinity is often viewed in of strength, unfortunately we don’t always properly question what true strength means. For instance, does strength mean imposing fears on others, or does it mean to be unafraid of your self?

In that light, I say the above regarding limited editions with a similar and gentle irony – it’s nice each edition has a special attention given to it. It also fits in with their distinctive ART aesthetic; a weird one to put into words, but you can consistently see it, it’s brash, plays with the ‘ordinary’ and raises it to be an art for our times, relevant, hopefully transcendent.

The images are often simple photos, taken in documentary style. The type is often bold, brash and ‘plain’. Image and type, “telling it as it is”, with humour. That said, running through this straight-forward approach there is a lot of care, some choices which elevate the visual side of the production, adding kitsch elements like gold sparkle or colouring the vinyl, successfully raising ‘ordinary’ visuals to be oddly attractive (curious) and PROVOCATIVE. In keeping with this, the unlimited limited editions is great.

And labels. We all need labels in order to identify things. (Are they straight edge?) Apparently Joe doesn’t like being called a punk - "For the last time, we're not a fucking punk band." (He makes me giggle. And you know he’s going to say it again.) No, not punk. But isn’t post-punk even worse? PP means way too many things, similarly post-modern. And that is what the IDLES are, post modern: showing a good self-awareness creating their ART in a self-referential way, to retrospectively call question to what modern actually is. What is happening now.

Long live IDLES.

This sleeve has quite a fragile wide spine. One to watch out for. Mine was always mint- because the bottom left corner is struggling a little!

Rottweiler sounds quite flat compared to the rest of the album.

Mr tattoo man yells lots about things like man trouble and politic stuff. He also doesn’t like perms which sucks because people with perms are cool af

Saw Idles live in vancouver a few weeks ago. I don’t know if the album can compete with that. Amazing band amazing album

Great album, but another lousy pressing by GZ. I've gone through two of these and both were warped and covered in pops and clicks and cratered vinyl, and for $47 retail... What a joke. GZ and Rainbo are constantly competing for the title of worst QC.

Every once in a while something special happens on the UK's music scene. This album encapsulates one of those moments. Every track is a true gem.