Sonically this record is stripped-back and brutal, focused; reminiscent of Public Enemy and Sleaford Mods as much as underground punk heroes Mclusky (2000s) and Big Black (1980s) with its relentless repetition and metal discord.
It’s smart: acerbic and politically charged in its bleakness, single Mr. Motivator wilfully tearing apart broken Britain to build new diverse communities, Anxiety piling on the pressure. Not punk rock by container, punk through attitude.
Ultra Mono is Idles’ third album, recorded over 2019 but forged during lockdown, and its lacerating connections feel entirely appropriate for these times. Emotionally draining, masculine in a forward-looking sense, fragmented but bone-shakingly whole.
As The Slits once sang, silence is a rhythm too. Often you notice the instruments more because they’re left to stand alone: hoarse, guttural implications are offset by clang and friction.
‘How does it feel to have blue blood coursing through your veins?’ singer Joe Talbot intones, echoing (unconsciously?) Crass’s classic How Does It Feel over a welter of dissonance before the whole fucking world explodes. ‘How does it feel to have shagged the working classes into dust?’
