Idles – Crawler

Although their previous album, Ultra Mono, was a hit last year, there were signs that Idles might be reaching the end of their punk shelf-life. After all, one can only be an angry upstart for so long and, amid the praise, the Bristol band had also begun to attract critics. Meanwhile, the furious anti-establishment optimism that accompanied their rise had long since turned to post-Corbyn despondency. 

It’s good to report then that it wasn’t a last hurrah, but the end of a chapter, as their follow-up record, Crawler, is a very different, arguably more interesting beast.

Opener MTT 420 RR signposts their evolution. It’s still rawly produced (by Kenny Beats and Idles guitarist Mark Bowen), but more intricate. Gone is the blaring distortion, and Joe Talbot’s vocals are more vulnerable and introspective. It’s a stylistic motif that’s repeated throughout the album, with abrasive social commentary mostly swapped out for musings about inner struggles and reflections on personal traumas – notably referenced on the impressively experimental single Car Crash. That’s part of a conscious decision to embrace a more eclectic overview of influences that include everything from Thom Yorke to The Fall and 80s New Wave, which didn’t always come through before.

This is most evident on lead single The Beachland Ballroom, a waltzing peach of a song that is reminiscent of Arctic Monkeys’ mid-career turn to new frontiers or Idles contemporaries Fontaines DC’s early career reinvention with last year’s A Heroes Death. Arguably, there’s extra intrigue because it’s coming from Talbot and Idles – a group whose (successful) formula seemed quite set. That’s followed by Crawl!, a take on turn-of-the-century garage rock that is a perfect setting for the singer’s hoarse vocals, and showcases the sharpness of his newly pared-down lyrics. Their new turn is perhaps at its peak on the ruminatively hallucinogenic Progress.

That’s not to say the trademark raucous wit, hell-raising riffs and driving drums are totally absent from Crawler: tracks like Meds, King Snake and The Wheel provide punctuating throwbacks to the Idles of old. Another standout, The New Sensation is the best example of this, targeting Tory Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s suggestion musicians should retrain in its lyrics.

For existing fans this new iteration of Idles may take some getting used to – though there’s still enough for them to enjoy. But it’s those who didn’t get the fuss about their first three albums, who maybe thought they fell short of their reputation and inspirations, for whom Crawler will be something of a revelation.

Mark Worgan

Crawler is released on 12^th November 2021. For further information or to order the album visit Idles’s website here.

Watch the video for the single The Beachland Ballroom here: