This is the closest I've come to doing a reaction post: I wrote most of this during my first listen through this, the second album from IDLES. In summary, I think I was right to be excited about this one ...
'TANGK' is described by the band as being made in love, and all about love; an "album of beauty and power" . Love isn't always fluffy and cuddly, or sweet, or gentle, or even, necessarily, happy. And that's what Joe Talbot, Mark Bowen, Jon Beavis, Adam Devonshire and Lee Kiernan have discovered and attempted to translate into words and music here.
The record starts with twinkling piano, the beating of a drum, grinding shimmery guitars. There's a sense of sense of ominous approach. We're in for a beating, maybe. But, then, Joe's voice comes in surprisingly gentle and strangely soothing. This is 'IDEA 01', and through it IDLES return to old-fashioned storytelling. It might be my favourite track from the album. The use of the throwaway "or something" at the end of many of the lines gives that sense of realism - it brings genuine real life into the music. It's a track measuring 3:38, but feels almost eternally long in some senses - it's a transporting kind of track. Two-and-a-half minutes in, the glittering piano translates itself into melodic chords - gosh this is beautiful. Along with the subtly filtered beats and ethereal synths (or something) lurking in the undergrowth, this for me makes this song the one where I feel the influence of Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich the most. Those chords build and seem to be reaching a climax and I find myself wondering if I can bear it - I'm close to heartbreak. And then it stops - we're spared. In a very weird way, I'm almost glad not to have to face that emotion at which the song is pointing.
'Gift Horse' provides catharsis and a sense of kicking back. This is a great track and has never sounded better than it does here. Following 'IDEA 01', it seems more pacey than I'd noticed before - it establishes itself into a steady, 4/4-locked, relentless march forward.
'POP POP POP' is brand new: dark, garagey, jittery and of the streets. It's restless. It doesn't sound like typical IDLES perhaps - but that's exciting. Later, I realise that actually it really is true to the band. It's the essence of IDLES boiled down, condensed, into a restlessly stirring, simmering concoction. Joe speaks words of wisdom, sounding immensely relaxed but hugely intentional. It's poetic and beautiful. Out of the morass, "love is the fing" emerges, repeated and searing into your mind.
Track four sees Joe singing again - he does a lot more of that on this record. In 'Roy' there's a passing reference to "baby's breath" and I find myself wondering if this is subconsciously a Kurt Cobain reference. Then there are jangly guitars - spaghetti-Western style - before drums suddenly arise, bringing us to a strange kind of peak which doesn't develop as you'd probably expect. Again, there's a sense of a mood more jittery and restless than I've been used to. It's not a full on blast. We drop back again, and then up once more, allowing Joe to release a guttural cry of "baby!".
Next, 'A Gospel': floating over honky-tonk piano reverbing oh so lonely in darkness, Joe softly sings again; a short ditty, but a nice interlude, before those dramatic strings herald 'Dancer'. This is more familiar IDLES ground, but revamped, updated, reenergised. That song flows beautifully into 'Grace' - it's a really natural progression, creating and then following through an aural colour-scape. Joe's vocals move from roaring expression in the first, into more nuanced and restrained registers in the latter. Again, "love is the fing" appears, and with the call, "no King", there are references back to 'Gift Horse'. This brings a brilliant sense of continuity: this is an album which has been crafted with great care we can now see. It's been moulded as if on a potter's wheel.
'Hall & Oates' is a funny one; it's rowdy, a bit messy, a bit tongue-in-cheek, featuring IDLES unafraid to reference slightly obscure personalities (cf. Rachel Khoo) to conjure up precise and relatable imagery. I might need to think about this one some more.
We're then led into 'Jungle', another jangly start, and pacey too - it morphs into a relentless, brow-beatingly bouncy rhythm - but then a dark image is summoned lyrically. It's non-stop, dramatic, violent but in some ways ultimately redemptive. 'Gratitude' (performed for the first time at the band's so-called secret gig in London last October) keeps up the pace, relentless, blasting. Perhaps it's rough and raucous on the surface, but this is how IDLES express emotion, and the emotion is gratitude. Positive. And this is the apparent paradox that the band are tirelessly keen to explain (I recently tweeted a brilliant, long read written by Sophie Leigh Walker for The Line of Best Fit which discusses just that concept and features, as a giant pull-quote, Mark's comment: "If you think anger is part of this band, you're missing the point").
'Gratitude' forms into the final track, Monolith - a reflective, meditative almost prayerful song. And then it all ends with a few sultry bars on the saxophone. It's suitably mellow, we're led gently into the gloaming; and we're left almost in limbo - in a state of meditation ourselves.
IDLES have melded affection and power; they've combined rebellion, disillusionment, pain, joy - all those emotions and more. And they've melted that all down, passed it through the refiner's fine to discover this core, love.
Here's what some other outlets have written about 'TANGK':
CLASH - "The Bristolian outfit breaks enthralling new ground…" (8/10)
The Guardian - "a return to joy as an act of resistance" (4/5)
Kerrang! - "Love is the answer for Bristolian rabble-rousers IDLES on unpredictable fifth album TANGK…" (4/5)
The Line of Best Fit - "All is love on IDLES’ TANGK, an album drenched in fragility" (8/10)
Pitchfork - "a smoother, softer rock record that still fires its love songs from a cannon" (6.7)
Rolling Stone - "Idles Steamroll You With Their Joy ... The UK band declares "Love is the thing," in the loudest way possible on their fifth album"