walking upstream…
IDLES
sourcesWikipedia · BrooklynVegan
IDLES formed in Bristol in 2009 around vocalist Joe Talbot, though they spent years finding their footing before the 2017 debut 'Brutalism.' Built on the twin guitars of Mark Bowen and Lee Kiernan, Adam Devonshire's bass and Jon Beavis's drums, the band pairs a hammering, motorik post-punk attack with Talbot's barked, aphoristic vocals. Their breakthrough came with 2018's 'Joy as an Act of Resistance,' which turned punk aggression toward vulnerability, immigration and masculinity, and 'Danny Nedelko' became an unlikely anthem of solidarity. Talbot has resisted the post-punk label as the band absorbed hip-hop, techno and noise across 'Ultra Mono,' 'Crawler' and 'Tangk,' twice reaching number one in the UK.
the sound in question
2018
Danny NedelkoIDLES
walk the tributaries ↓
Gang of Four1970s-80s · Post-punk / Dance-punk / Art punk
Talbot has named Gang of Four when describing IDLES' early ambitions, saying their influences were 'clear as day (Joy Division, Gang of Four, Bauhaus etc.),' and the band later recorded a cover of 'Damaged Goods' for a tribute to guitarist Andy Gill. The debt is in the guitar language: choppy, treble-heavy stabs that behave more like percussion than melody, locked to a rhythm section that carries the groove.
listen: upstream & heresource: So Young Magazine ↗
1978
Damaged GoodsGang of Four
2017
Well DoneIDLES
listen forLine up 'Damaged Goods' with 'Well Done' and listen to how both let scratchy, staccato guitar figures cut in and out over a tight, funk-inflected bass-and-drum pulse, while the vocal jabs out short, deadpan phrases about class and consumption rather than singing a hook.
Joy Division1970s-80s · Post-punk / Gothic rock
Joy Division sat at the top of the same list of avowed early influences, and their imprint is rhythmic: the motorik, engine-like drive in the rhythm section that IDLES themselves cite as a post-punk inheritance. It surfaces as a preference for a repetitive, mechanical pulse that grinds forward without loosening, a bed for bleak, plainly delivered lyrics rather than a groove to dance to.
listen: upstream & heresource: So Young Magazine ↗
1979
She's Lost ControlJoy Division
2017
1049 GothoIDLES
listen forSet 'She's Lost Control' beside '1049 Gotho' and follow the drums: both ride a stiff, insistent beat that circles the same figure for the length of the song, with a low, declarative voice worrying at a single dark idea over the top.
The Fall1980s · post-punk / art punk
The Fall are among the acts Talbot has listed as influences, and the connection is vocal delivery: Mark E. Smith's ranting, half-spoken sneer, repeated phrases and abrasive sarcasm map closely onto Talbot's barked, list-making tirades. Both build a track around a hammered, unchanging riff and treat the voice as a hectoring instrument rather than a melodic one.
listen: upstream & heresource: Wikipedia ↗
1980
Totally WiredThe Fall
2018
Never Fight a Man with a PermIDLES
listen forCompare 'Totally Wired' with 'Never Fight a Man with a Perm': each rides one insistent, repeated riff while the singer spits sardonic, run-on phrases in a flat regional accent, more rant than tune, the humour and menace sitting right on the surface.