“Why the fuck is Jamie Cullum here?” – IDLES, I hope at some point during the recording of ‘Ultra Mono’…
Constantly subverting clichés can become in itself a big fat cliché: a lesson in punk 101 that IDLES have learnt the hard way. In layman’s terms, Ultra Mono is unable to move forwards and ironically, IDLES remain quite idle throughout.
Ultra Mono ironically describes the album down to a “T” – it’s hyperbolic but deadbeat, amplified but undoubtedly singular. Mostly revolving around one simple song structure: shouty line-big riff, shouty line-big riff, big shouty chorus accompanied by even bigger riff, rinse and repeat: IDLES’ lack creativity and it shows.
Despite a few ‘weird’ noises, thrown in by Warren Ellis to presumably try and spice things up, most of the record remains stagnant. Skirting quickly past horrendous lines like ‘Clack-clack, clack-a-clang clang, That’s sound of gun going bang bang’ and the phrase ‘Like Conor McGregor with a samurai sword on rollerblades’ – the less that’s said about them the better – Joe Talbot in effect becomes an angsty soundboard: “Press here for anti-establishment sentiment 1. Press here for anti-establishment sentiment 2.” And, what coursing energy IDLES once had soon falls away to leave five guys trying and failing to offer up something of interest except an over-egged zebra print pair of Doc Martens, a moustache and a new love heart tattoo: preferably one involving a snake; perhaps also a dagger with a drop of blood on the tip – cool.
An example maybe? Well, supposedly the album has had some ‘hip hop influences’ from a guy called Kenny Beats, or Master Beats as I prefer to call him, though I’m not sure where those influences actually are. If it’s in the lyrics, which at times do roll rhythmically then the effect is very very minimal. Truthfully? It sounds like even the press release’s author slipped into hyperbole to try and make Ultra Mono seem more interesting than it actually is, something that other reviewers have quickly followed suit in.
If anything, Ultra Mono shows that IDLES’s passionate rage is tittering out and the same pointed messages that previously garnered broad critical acclaim are now beginning to resemble an inter-generational spat on a Twitter thread – ‘gammon’ in particular, being a toe-curling buzzword used on ‘Model Village’.
By all means, let’s attack conservatism, nationalism, toxic machismo and narrow-mindedness, no qualms here on that, but just like the band’s limited edition Ultra Mono skateboard (£75.00 RRP) the record increasingly seems to be angled towards it’s audience. Shouty socialism: check. Slang words for Tories: check. Marching bass-drum: check. And, quite honestly, it’s predictable and formulaic, and no amount of shouting from Joe Talbot can persuade you that it’s something other than a hollow exercise in blowing stale air: easily marketed and void of substance. Sigh.
Sticking to almost exclusively subverting clichés, (see ‘Mr. Motivator’ and ‘Reigns’) IDLES have in fact fulfilled another cliché: the chest-beating band who are struggling to change their tune. Across Ultra Mono, IDLES resemble a novelty-shaped chocolate box full of one flavour of chocolate – coconut. You want to pick up another chocolate, maybe a truffle, a caramel even, or fuck, just give me a fudge. But no, you’re left to pedal coconut chocolates, with their cringe inducing texture. What a disappointment.
Haiku Review:
IDLES caught idle
with coconut chocolates,
Jamie Cullum? What?
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