IDLES - Joy as an Act of Resistance

Partisan Records

August 31st, 2018.

IDLES second studio album, 'Joy As An Act of Resistance', takes its fifth turn in time. A cultural explosion lined up with cultural implosion. Turbulent times tend to lead to turbulent moments in music - art, in general. Every era needs its accompanying soundtrack.....

Are moments of synchronicity meant to occur, or are they just another flick of the wrist at infinity? Just another speck of dust which enters the spotlight? Joy As An Act of Resistance is the record which propelled IDLES in to the light as figureheads of the punk/post-punk explosion across the UK in the mid-to-late 2010's, and beyond. Brutalism broke down the door, but Joy As an Act stepped foot inside said door. Culminating with their Glastonbury set of 2019, a set which traversed the bands catalogue, and a few covers in between, up to that point, it's a gig which will eventually, if it hasn't already, encapsulate the band, as well as the time period, in amber.

Weekends that last 20 years. Wasting away for fun. Chained to the hedonistic lifestyle. Splintered shins and split personalities. Fred Astair-ing until the sun comes round. Pulled apart by internal needs and external wants - seeds and weeds. The external will win until you slap it sideways. There's nothing out there for you. A man of security, or a man of insecurity. The mask of masculinity. It wears you if you will it to. Poisoned souls. Out of reach of self. Out of self within reach. No bearings. No where to turn. No turns to take. No goals. No failure. Scum of a certain kind. All too aware. Aware of nothing at all. The center of existence. An existence of nothing, no one and nowhere. Jack of all trades. Master of fuck all.

I'll shut my mouth, let's hug it out.

Love yourself.