Ultra Mono

Idles’ third studio album has all of the elements that made Joy As an Act of Resistance such a breakout success.

It’s smart: acerbic and politically charged in its bleakness.

Always on the front foot, bloodied but unbowed, IDLES are a claustrophobic, relentless, airtight and pulverising machine of perpetual motion. That they are able to keep themselves airborne throughout Ultra Mono is testament to the art and skill that lies behind such an unstinting display of brazen contempt.

It's a one-tone listen. But that shout-in-your-face directness is exactly what makes Ultra Mono so powerful. This is rock music that compels you to pay attention.

If IDLES have been known to play with a cliché or two, with a slogan tossed in here or there, it doesn't mean they've been empty lyrics. Sometimes a bunch of overdriven guitars and a sweaty drummer don't need Zizek to get their point across. IDLES get it, offering both catharsis and direction as they struggle for a movement.

Like all IDLES releases, Ultra Mono’s biggest drawback is its lack of variety. Though the guitarists experiment with different tones, each song still has the same feel sonically. Likewise, Talbot’s vocals are monotone with little variety and his lyrics are sometimes simplistic. But IDLES make up for those flaws with its greatest strengths, the band’s passion, unbridled fury, and raw intensity. IDLES wears its passion and anger on its sleeve, delivering infectious rhythms, filthy distorted guitars, and snarling vocals to drive its message home.

Ultra Mono is the almighty sound of the do getting done. [Oct 2020, p.82]

Their juggernaut third album is the sound of a band becoming ever more defiantly themselves. [Sep 2020, p.104]

These are not times for ambiguity. Ultra Mono scours like bleach, its fury a purifier. [Oct 2020, p.31]

This record fuses the first album’s goofy sense of humour with ‘Joy…’’s brazen manifesto for a healthier society. Despite their imperfections and the often justified criticism, IDLES are ultimately a good thing. The band want to take you on a trip and for you to enjoy the ride, and for the destination to be serene. Hold on tight.

No gripes here as IDLES deliver their most consistent album to date with a handful of their most rough-cut diamonds sparkling through.

At its strongest, Ultra Mono offers a fresh set of urgent rallying cries for anyone interested in furthering workers’ rights, dismantling systemic racism, and knocking out a few Nazi teeth. The record’s missteps mostly come when Talbot finds himself on the defensive, a position that finds him turning out poison-pen responses to critics that probably felt better to sing than they do to hear.

IDLES are evolving and learning how to create change through a model most accepting. It’s 2020: let’s try the simplicity of hope and clichéd positivity for a change. Maybe this tight collection of high-octane nursery rhymes and simple chants will do the trick.

‘Ultra Mono’’s step towards a more neoliberalistic message of positivity does serve to take some of the wind out of IDLES’ sails. If ‘Ultra Mono’ is their attempt to critique their own pedestal, it might not read as radical as they would have liked.

Without applying any analysis, there is much to enjoy here; their raucous energy shines just as bright, but underneath the surface Ultra Mono lacks the sparkle that made their first two records truly special.

While not their best work, ‘Ultra Mono’ takes many leaps forward in terms of songwriting and tunecraft, while blowing a few kisses at their detractors. That’ll be mission accomplished.

IDLES are at their best when they know their limits and play to their strengths.