Last week, British punk band IDLES released their new record, Joy as an Act of Resistance. It’s the follow up to their excellent debut album, Brutalism, which was released in 2017 and acts as a worthy and intelligent second offering from the Bristol five-piece.
Joy as an Act of Resistance sees the group bundling the issues of immigration, expectations of masculinity, the demonisation of the working class and more into a ferocious ball of fire. From fast-paced, blistering anthems to the more melancholy reflective cuts, we’ve rounded up our favourites below.
‘Danny Nedelko‘
“My blood brother is an immigrant, a beautiful immigrant … He’s made of flesh, he’s made of love, he’s made of you, he’s made of me,” the band’s frontman Joe Talbot wails. A tribute to the benefits of immigration, ‘Danny Nedelko‘ takes its name from one of the band’s close friends (a Hungarian immigrant) and is unnervingly relevant.
‘I’m Scum‘
The album’s third track, ‘I’m Scum‘, is crammed with rolling basslines, battering drum hits and a hearty dose of rage. “For a long long while I’ve known I’m dirty rotten filthy scum!” the frontman howls before firing some shots at James Bond, dubbing him a “murderous toff“.
‘June‘
‘June‘ is one of the record’s more brooding numbers and sees Talbot reflecting on the death of his daughter at birth, with lyrics that reference a six-word poem often associated with Ernest Hemmingway – “Baby’s shoes. For sale. Never worn“. The track takes a shape that’s less familiar than what we’ve come to know with IDLES, but is equally, if not even more brutal.
Joy as an Act of Resistance is available now across all streaming platforms.
