The Best of New Music Friday:
IDLES – TANGK
Somewhere on the internet, IDLES singer Joe Talbot told a journalist the band was trying to sound like Paul McCartney on their early recordings for TANGK. They didn’t stick with that direction because Talbot decided it “sounded like shit.” Instead, IDLES fourth studio album is filled with their rhotic Bristol accents, carving a comfort in imperfections, after the band spent two straight records trying to be flawless and failing. The new batch begins with “IDEA 01,” a pretty piano opener. It saves room for well-mixed noise guitar that radiates around. This first track would have been perfect for the Sandman origin scene in Spider-Man 3.
The band has struck a fine balance they have been trying to perfect for so long: Sing softer, don’t be as loud and still bring some noise. It feels like the band had tried to be flawless in that vein with their last record CRAWLER. There probably isn’t a perfect line for a rock band to go softer when they made their money on being crazily noisy and obscene. Take “A Gospel” for example. They aren’t focused on being “more” composed anymore, and that might be exactly why TANGK succeeds in bridging that gap more than their recent releases.
The highlights from TANGK are also different from past album highs. “Roy” might be IDLES most passionate slow burner to date. Talbot hits some “AWWHH!”’s that sound like David Lee Roth, but they’re actually good, and certainly different from everything else this band’s done.
Don’t worry though, there are still goofy, fun-filled moments for the alternative family. “Dancer” is the funkiest and LCD Soundsystemiest track on the record. James Murphy and Nancy Whang swing by to sing in high tones between fuzzy guitars, shouting “Collide with us while we work it out,” in a way that will inspire others to do the same at parties, or staring in the mirror while brushing their teeth.
IDLES have now gotten done what they couldn’t achieve in the past. the leaders of Crankwave break out of the noise rock stereotype they popularized, even sooner so than their contemporaries. Others tried (Shame couldn’t quite do it on Food for Worms) and like some proverbial moon race, IDLES still got their first. That’s one small step for for joy, one four year leap for noise rock kind.
New Music Friday Top Picks:
GAYLE + Royal & the Serpent – “kinda smacks”
Gustaf – “Here Hair / Hard Hair”
Holly Humberstone – “Dive”
Vampire Weekend – “Capricorn / Gen X Cops”
Wallows – “Your Apartment”
Which of these tracks from New Music Friday will you be adding to your favorite playlists today? Any we missed? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!
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