Bristol-based post-punk band Idles released Crawler, their fourth album, last month and it has kept them at the top of the ranks of the UK punk scene’s resurgence. Co-produced by Idles guitarist Mark Bowen and the typically hip-hop focused Kenny Beats, the album is furious, filled with caustic music that wants to pierce your chest plate and punch you in the heart. Breakneck bass and drums pair with singer Joe Talbot’s metaphysical lyrics. Uproxx’s Steven Hyden sums it up by writing that “This kind of music is so heightened that is bound to elicit equally charged reactions. Some will hear it as rousing and even potentially life-changing music; others will find it strident to the point of irritation.”
It’s not always easy to listen to, but it’s pure and is clearly a vessel for seeking greater truths about ourselves. Enter the video for “When The Lights Come on,” filmed in nightvision and sending up suburbia. Talbot calls the song a “poem of light and sound exploring the cold light of day.”
Idles are playing New Year’s Eve with The Strokes in Brooklyn and then are going off on a headlining tour through Europe, South America, and a range of music festivals from there. See full dates and get tickets here.
Crawler is out now via Partisan Records. You can watch the video above.