2025-10-12
IDLES - Joy as an Act of Resistance
Original release: 2018
A must-hear for anyone vaguely interested in (the spirit of) punk, and while some have argued that IDLES are not really (post-)punk, I would argue that no one really cares what you label them as; IDLES and what they stand for are obviously highly relevant in some way, given their popularity over the last few years, and Joy as an Act of Resistance is a worthwhile album regardless if you file it under punk, post-punk or pop/rock.
The album opens with the heavy, droning, post-punk anthem Colossus which sets a pretty dark tone from the get-go, but the album really bounces back and forth between relatively straight-forward, high-energy punk songs and slower, more intricate post-punk tracks. The cover of Solomon Burke’s Cry To Me works surprisingly well even if it stands out a bit on the album because it very clearly is not written by IDLES. All in all a thematically and sonically coherent album that is worth listening to from start to finish &ldots; you know, as an album.
Listen
- Colossus: https://youtu.be/VODKZxsRa_E
- Never Fight a Man With a Perm: https://youtu.be/dEe4i2osF5A