Becoming one of the UK's biggest buzz bands of the last five years while also being touted as forerunners of a new, politically minded and important post-punk movement, IDLES were bound to catch a little flak along the way. When their second full-length, 2018's Joy As An Act of Resistance , was a smash hit among fans and critics, it was all but assured that their next album would be scrutinized much more closely. Well, it certainly has been; Ultra Mono , their third LP, was released amid a cloud of criticism from some of their lesser-known peers, detractors who questioned their punkness, their sincerity and their usefulness in fighting the good fight, whatever that means these days. Though at the root there are perhaps some valid concerns, most of it comes off as sour grapes; no matter the genre or era, the band that gets the attention will get shade from the ones who can't. It's really no surprise that IDLES was the band that broke from the crowd in this respect; the...
SOMEHOW STILL A THING