In our last post from this series, we took a look at the origins of punk rock as a genre by examining the band MC5, who plied their trade in the 1960s. Today we are traveling to the other end of the time continuum by taking a closer look at Idles, who are one of the most successful modern punk-esque bands performing today. Idles hail from Bristol, England, and consist of five regular members: lead singer Joe Talbot (whose voice was once described as follows: “If whiskey had a voice it would sound like Joe”), lead guitarist Mark Bowen (who often performs in his underwear or else in dresses. Bowan also helped produce today’s song, “Dancer”), rhythm guitarist Lee Kiernan (who often flails about the stage like a whirling dervish while playing), bassist Adam Devonshire (who stoically anchors the stage while the three front men do their thing) and drummer Jon Beavis (who was once described as follows: “He’s a beast on the drums and for a small fee will do your taxes, too”). The band has been together since 2009 but have only been releasing albums of original material since 2017. In that time, the band has been nominated for Grammy Awards and England’s Mercury Prize. They are generally regarded as one of the best live acts performing anywhere in the world today.
As a band, the members of Idles have been quick to state that they are not a punk band but are, instead, a rock band. However, their professional attitude as a band says otherwise. Ever since their debut album, ironically titled Brutalism, Idles has made their living by being nice and by espousing positivity. Like all good punk bands, the songs that Idles are best known for all seem to have a political bent. However, the band makes a consistent habit of making their points without the need for anger or by calling for anarchy. For example, “Never Fight a Man in a Perm” is their take on the subject of toxic masculinity. “Danny Nedelko” is a song that praises the important contributions made by immigrants, which, in these times, is as against the grain as a band can get. The video for this song really highlights the positivity with which Idles performs and how well they interact with their audiences. “Crawl!” is a song about mental health and what happens when people (especially men) refuse to acknowledge that they need help. This video is from the most recent Glastonbury Music Festival and was voted as being the best live performance. There is profanity, so viewer discretion is advised. “A Hymn” is a song that acts as a love letter to their parents and friends from Bristol who supported them when they were just starting out. The video for this is great! On and on it goes. For a band that plays loud and fast and hard, Idles seem like the nicest bunch of guys you could ever meet. They have excellent stage presence and are known for the interactivity of their shows. Above all else, the band preaches peace and love and unity through music, all the while having a lot of fun. This brings us to the subject of today’s song, “Dancer”.
“Dancer” is the band’s latest single. It was just released this past week and comes from an as-of-yet unreleased album called Tangk. The song is a real banger. It features the singing of LCD Soundsystem members James Murphy and Nancy Whang on the chorus, which is more significant than the usual cameo-type appearance that guest singers tend to make on other people’s records. LCD Soundsystem, and James Murphy in particular, is well known for the quality of its lyrics and the way the band uses the musical structure of their songs to add layers of meaning to the lyrics being sung. This past summer, Idles opened for LCD Soundsystem on a festival tour of the U.S. During the tour, members of each band got to know each other and to learn from each other. When it came time for Idles to start writing songs for their latest album, they incorporated lessons garnered from their tour experiences. This was also how Murphy and Whang ended up playing such a cool role in the song “Dancer”.
“Dancer” is a song that has a wall-of-sound feel to it but, in reality, is built upon a very basic musical construction that borrows heavily from some of LCD Soundsystem’s best known work. However, in order to understand why the structure of “Dancer” works so well, it is first necessary to step back and look at what Idles are trying to say in this song in which the medium ends up becoming the message. First of all, Idles has always wanted their fans to have a safe and fun time at their shows. They discourage mosh pits because they can lead to violent outbursts of aggression, especially among male concert goers. Idles want all fans to feel safe and to have a good time, so they preach the need for fans to watch out for each other during shows and to care for one another. At the same time, they want their fans to move and groove and most of all to sweat and leave their concerts completely spent. So, on one level, the song “Dancer” is about feeling safe enough to freely express yourself through movement to music. On a different level, the band is also talking about conflict and alternatives to violence. At some point in our lives or by watching shows on TV or at the movies, we have witnessed scenes of confrontation between two or more people where the invitation is issued by one side to the other to dance. When someone looks you in the eye, fists cocked and says, “Let’s dance”, they are not talking about doing the rhumba or the cha-cha-cha. They are inviting you to fight. The song “Dancer” is about riots and mosh pits and wars and how, as a society, we have a tendency to fall into patterns of bodily movement, in pairs or in large groups, that bring with it violence and destruction and harm. Through this song, Idles are desperately trying to appeal to the great masses in society to use bodily movement for pleasure, instead of pain. Finally, “Dancer” touches upon the culturally significant nature of the act of dancing. From Indigenous powwows, to New Zealand’s Haka dance, to Scottish Highland flings, the act of dancing is an important one. It is also a sensual one. Next to actually being sexually intimate with someone, dancing with a loved one can be one of the most loving and provocative things people can do together. If you have ever slow danced at a high school dance or house party, then you have an idea of what I am talking about here. There is a reason that so many hit songs are written about the sexually charged energy that comes from being on the dance floor.
This brings us back to the way that the structure of “Dancer” is put together and how it helps to elevate the song’s meaning. This is a song built upon the interplay between low sounds and higher sounds. The low sounds consist of drums, throbbing bassline and Joe Talbot’s deep, gravel-like voice. The high sounds consist of the crisp, crackling higher notes of the lead and rhythm guitars, along with the chorus line sung by Murphy and Whang of LCD Soundsystem. “Dancer” begins with Adam Devonshire’s dramatic bassline that acts as the heartbeat of the song all the way through. Joe Talbot adds his low voice to this baseline, with the two amplifying the other. Whenever Joe takes a breath or a pause, the higher guitar notes jump in and weave themselves around the bassline. During the chorus, the bassline gives way to Murphy and Whang’s higher pitched voices repeating the line “Collide us while we work it out”, while Joe Talbot sings about dancing “cheek to cheek and hip to hip”. The two separate lyrics circle around each other until they form a single joyful cacophony of sound. In other words, the alternating, intermingling high/low chords and notes function the way people do on the dancefloor: they dance! A song about the physical and emotional release that comes from freely dancing is constructed in such a way that the sounds and lyrics dance with each other all throughout the song, too. The end result is, as mentioned earlier, a banger of a song. Idles are far from the traditional stand-still-in-front-of-your-microphones kind of band. They are active and boisterous and have many good things to say about the state of our world and how things can be made better. They are punk in all the very best ways a punk band can be. They are my favourite modern band. There is no other band or artist who is even a close second. Let’s get our sweat on! Here is Idles and “Dancer”. Enjoy.
The link to the video for the song “Dancer” by Idles can be found here. ***The lyrics video is here. However, as a note, the lyrics video features Spanish and English lyrics, and, as well, it reverses the frame images throughout, which is kinda weird. But the song is so new that this is the only lyric video I could find.
The link to the official website for Idles can be found here.
The link to a previous post written about the song “All My Friends” by LCD Soundsystem can be found here. For my money, the video of this performance is one of the best live concert videos I have ever seen! Absolutely phenomenal!
***The title of this series is taken directly from a line in a song called “Boxcar” by a great band called Jawbreaker. Please take a moment or two and visit their website and show the band some love. The link to the official website for Jawbreaker can be found here.
***As always, all original content contained within this post remains the sole property of the author. No portion of this post shall be reblogged, copied or shared in any manner without the express written consent of the author. ©2023 http://www.tommacinneswriter.com
New to me but I do know LCD Soundsystem at least. Despite the connection for me they don’t sound much alike. I will check that link for LCD , my son in law is a fan and introduced me a few years back.