Rating: 10/10
By Kieran Webber
The western world is falling apart, as a nation we are torn apart politically and the creeping expansion of the right wing is concerning at most. We live in a country where the richest live a different life to the poor and inequality is at it’s highest in decades. It is no surprise that a band as powerful and politically driven like IDLES has emerged through the cracks that are appearing on the shiny conservative surface.
‘Brutalism’ represents life in Britain right now, it tackles peoples stupidity and it targets the hypocritical Conservative government. Throwing themes of politics, death, love and social decay, It is real, raw and beautifully unapologetic.
The album kicks things off with ‘Heel_Heal’ begins with a soundbite of bloodcurdling screams that fades into bombardment of percussion guided by a thudding bassline, this backed by the repetitive chanting creates a trance like state that has you on your knees begging for more from the band. And hell do they deliver, the following track and lead single ‘Well Done’ is a blitz of jagged riffs which is followed by the cutting ‘Mother’ which is arguably the most iconic song on the album due to it directly calling out the Conservative government whilst raising the uneducated and working classes.
From beginning to end you are subject to a barrage of high octane angst fuelled “post”-punk that is carried forward with vocalist Joe Talbert’s howling, gritted vocals. “Brutalism” will go down as 2017’s most important albums, maybe even the last decades due to it’s no fucks given attitude and pure rawness of the lyrical content. IDLES are a rare gem that come around rarely, much like when the Sex Pistols arrived. The time is now for IDLES and “Brutalism” is acting proof of that. They are not the punk band we asked for they are the punk band we need.
2 Comments
You must log in to post a comment.