IDLES-Joy As An Act of Resistance

I used to love doing posts like this back in my undergrad days and in between my career change from wannabe music journalist to teacher.

Now though, I tend to gravitate to what I like; I can’t remember what I needed to do for work let alone whether an album was released this year or last. However I thought I would make a bit of an effort and have a think about what I actually listened to this year and what I actually liked.

 

First band to mention are IDLES.

If you have not heard about them, you may be able to cast your mind back to a recent performance from a long running BBC show. Where one twitter reviewer claimed the performance as:

“Perhaps the worst sounding noise I’ve ever heard from a band tonight on Jools Holland’s Later – The Idles – Truly appalling,”

Each to their own, but I saw IDLES on my telly box that night, but i’m up for checking them out.

IDLES are important, a devoted fan base (AF Gang) of supportive like minded individuals who are a support network for some and just a place for discovering new bands to others. Either way it is a community which is as much a part of the band as the members themselves.

IDLES are important, their music is (at least for me) a source of frustration, a source of learning, a way of putting my own thoughts and beliefs into an anthem.

Joy As An Act of Resistance is an album which centers on themes of toxic masculinity, immigration and acceptance. Demonstrating a dynamic mix between pacing hypnotic drones before transcending to chaotic instrumentation whilst lyrics filled with hooks and sing-a-long anthems hold a deeper meaning.

IDLES aren’t a punk band, but what they have here is an album that speaks to me and a legion of fans on a level that escalates that of just another good song.

 

MOL-JORD

The term blackgaze has been banded around the internet for a few years now, some see it as a dirty word, a descriptor which encapsulates a new breed of bands fusing the somewhat polar shoegaze and black metal genres together. Whether the case is it being a phase or a genre that is here to stay, a few bands are spearheading the movement.

Released earlier this year through UK label Holy Roar Records Danish band Mol whatever genre you want to shove them in have produced an album which marries the ferocity and beauty of the two genres.

But this album is so much more than that for me, a constant in my headphones for most of the year, the beauty of the guitars in tracks like “Bruma” which start so calmly are countered by the use of blast beats and aggressive vocals which for some listeners this wouldn’t work but for me it is that contrast that makes bands like Mol intriguing to me.

This release demonstrates that this isn’t necessarily a passing phase of a genre but a collection of bands which are bringing together sounds which although on paper may not always add up when listening it is the perfect combination.

 

PIJN-Loss

 

Pijn are a collective of musicians from Manchester playing post-rock/metal and this year they released their debut album “Loss” also on Holy Roar Records.

As I have grown my musical tastes have shifted ever so slightly; I am not just finding interest in lyrics anymore which is something I used to rely heavily on when assessing whether I liked a song or band. I now seem to get a kick out of the interesting and different, not that I disregard lyrical content or meaning, but instrumentation plays a heavy part in what I listen to nowadays.

Loss is the continuation of previous releases Tanzaro House a live recording of  material and their debut EP Floodlit. I’ve managed to catch the band a couple of times and yet again I am blown away by the way in which the operate. Not one of the performances has been the same, interchanging musicians each time you see them give demonstrate a different approach each time they play. Songs you hear on record are not always what you will hear live dependent on the line up and this is something that intrigues me. I think it is clever and Loss demonstrates a band that I hope stick around for a while.

 

I am sure there are more releases I have heard this year and there will be a million and 1 different AOTY lists knocking about but it was nice to think about what I did listen to this year.

 

Hopefully 2019 will be just as solid.