Let’s deal with the elephant in the room before we crack on. TANGK? It’s pronounced “tank” with a trace of the “g”. Why? It is an onomatopoeic reference to the lashing way IDLES lead singer, Joe Talbot, imagined the guitar sound that has flourished into a symbolic representation of living in love. Now we are all clear with this, let’s carry on.
TANGK is the band’s fifth studio album and is hotly anticipated. Following on from 2021’s critically acclaimed album Crawler, IDLES have never been under the musical microscope in quite so much detail before. They start their ‘Love Is The Fing’ Tour in Porto, Portugal, at the end of February before heading around Europe and North America throughout 2024. Most of their UK dates have already sold out, with five new dates added to meet demand. There’s no hiding in the shadows, but that isn’t their style.
This 11-track, 40-minute offering is less musically and lyrically angry than you might assume. It is certainly not a step change in direction, more of an evolution. You can detect parts of all four previous albums in TANGK, yet this album sounds different to what has gone before. Their anger and trauma have been somewhat replaced with subjects of love, gratitude, and joy. This is underpinned by the necessity for perseverance, often in the face of adversity. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… and perhaps more optimistic about better times to come.
“If you give people everything on stage, they’ll give you everything back. There’s no bullshit in our crowd, no lack of lucidity,” Talbot says. “I wanted to bring that to a record. I’ve got more strength in me than I ever have, and it comes from love.” So, taking this on board, how does TANGK stack up?
The first thing that strikes you is Talbot’s voice. We get to hear him sing—a lot. Across the album, he uses his irate and incendiary sprechgesang sparingly. It is no bad thing, mind you. Talbot has a soulful voice ideally suited to the brand of music IDLES produce. It also allows Talbot’s vulnerability to shine through and gives many of the songs room to breathe.
We start proceedings with ‘IDEA 01’. A piano is tinkling away under the stewardship of Mark Bowen, playing a jarring melody to set us on our voyage of discovery. The first example is Talbot’s voice taking centre stage, proving he can carry a tune. Layers of sound build throughout the track, creating an uncomfortable feeling that keeps you on edge. It feels like being trapped in a musical purgatory.
‘Gift Horse’ feels like I am back on more familiar ground. Talbot’s vocals remind me of Anthony Kiedis of Red Hot Chilli Peppers on this track. “Fuck the king/He ain’t the king/She’s the king”, proclaims Talbot in a testament to redemption, finding that someone who makes life worthwhile. This song has an interesting feel as instruments pop in and out, occasionally culminating in making your speakers rattle.
If you are looking for a thumping drum beat to wake you up and get you going, ‘POP POP POP’ may be just the song for you. “Strong like bull/ Vulnerable/Keep my people up/That’s my tool”, Talbot declares as vehemently reinforced notes to himself. He must keep moving, keep striving, keep loving and keep living. But on a broader scale, it is also a call to arms for us all to do the same. If we all keep fighting for each other and supporting each other, we become stronger on many levels. There is power in a union, after all.
‘Roy’ greets you with an infectious tribal drum beat dispensed beautifully by Jon Beavis. Beavis comes at you violently in the chorus to keep you on your toes, smashing at your eardrums like a Heckler & Koch HK433 assault rifle in full flow. Talbot’s arid vocal details a surrender to infatuation and the benefits you might feel as a result. There’s also a very catchy riff towards the end of the song, which is reminiscent of The Animals.
If ‘Roy’ assails the auditory senses with its attack, ‘A Gospel’ slams on the handbrake and massages your feet whilst surrounding you with natural oils to help you relax. Stripped back with gently delivered vocals and delicate piano, sporadic arrivals of strings and guitar create stirring swells that slowly lift you up and gently place you back into your reclining massage chair.
To ensure you haven’t fallen asleep and missed the rest of the album, the band come straight back with a lively IDLES tub-thumper to slap you around the chops. ‘Dancer’ is a real scuzzy, throbbing track with bass that makes your speakers fizz and dance. It’s the sort of track that fits perfectly on 6 Music. Talbot dusts off his sprechgesang here as he talks us through the sexual tension you find on the dancefloor and embraces the moment completely.
Supported by an entertaining video that sees an AI version of Chris Martin singing Talbot’s lyrics within the video for Coldplay’s ‘Yellow, ‘ ‘Grace’ is built upon a looping 80s electro drumbeat. “No god/No king/I said love is the thing”, proclaims Talbot, drawing focus to the unifying force of love. The song feels as if it is about to ignite but stays in its lane throughout until the final few seconds when a truncated ‘A Day in the Life’ style ending jumps up at you.
‘Hall & Oates’ will likely be a mosh pit monster if played on the forthcoming tour. A fierce slice of hardcore, the rhythm will leave you feeling battered and bruised, and the guitars will leave you like a mound of pulled pork as they shred you with their screeching and screaming.
The band heads back to more familiar territory, examining the judgments of authority figures and how they delight in eroding our self-worth in ‘Jungle’. “Sam placed the choirboy’s head/On the Bank of England’s step/He raised his leg/To knight the poor man with his knee/That’s where the story ends”, Talbot conveys with his trademark blend of fury and disdain. With tribal drums driving the song and grimy guitars frothing away beneath the melody, this is IDLES at their absolute best.
Talbot starts to look at his place in the world and understand the love around him in the penultimate track, ‘Gratitude’. For me, it is the weakest offering on TANGK. That is not to say it is a bad track, but it feels a little lost here. This is partly due to the other tracks on this album reaching greater heights, making it more conspicuous.
The last offering is the brooding ‘Monolith’. A song which appears to allude to the protagonist finding the true meaning of their place in this world, it rolls along with a dark melancholy with a Twin Peaks feel. Once more, Talbot’s soft, husky voice is allowed to shine. As his singing fades out, a saxophone solo takes his place. They have an uncanny resemblance – it is as if Talbot and the sax are interchangeable.
The production of TANGK is excellent. Nigel Godrich, Kenny Beats and Mark Bowen have come together to conceive a sonic delectation. On repeated plays, you discover little moments you previously missed. A delicate touch is applied when needed, and more vicious assaults let loose when a right hook is called for.
The album is a call to arms to us all: to fight for our right to be happy and contented, to challenge those who try to prevent it, and to love and be loved. There’s also a strong theme of redemption woven throughout the eleven tracks. Redemption only comes with introspection, effort, integrity, and a bagful of honesty. I have always found IDLES to be a very honest band. They stay true to themselves and don’t want to be media darlings to sell a few more albums like them. Hate them. Be ambivalent about them. They will keep doing what they do regardless.
Although they may not even be thinking about it themselves, I am curious about what comes next for IDLES. Should they release a sixth studio album in a couple of years, what will it sound like? TANGK demonstrates they can mix it up and follow different paths with their music. Will the next release be evolution or revolution?
2024 looks set to be a challenging year – War, elections, street crime, poverty, climate change, illness, and more. We could easily turn on each other as we fight for our survival. We may even be encouraged to do so by various factions. Don’t let the bastards win. Remember, love is the thing.
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