Idles on the Mainstage at Haldern Pop Festival 2019.
Photo by Alexander Kellner
l. – r.: Jon Beavis, Mark Bowen, Lee Kiernan, Adam Devonshire and Joe Talbot

I know I’ve been going kind of ga-ga over Idles but am frequent listening to their album, “Joy as an Act of Resistance” (2018) while waiting for the just released album, “Tangk,” to get here. Geek levels for them continue to rise. These guys are modern political rabblerousers in both style and lyrics. My love affair with lead singer, Joe Talbot, is going off the deep end as is my serious crush on the guitarists.

From wikipedia:
Idles are a British rock band formed in Bristol in 2009. The band consists of Adam Devonshire (bass,) Joe Talbot (vocals,) Mark Bowen (guitar,) Lee Kiernan (guitar,) and Jon Beavis (drums). Their debut album, Brutalism, was released in 2017 to critical acclaim, as was their second album Joy as an Act of Resistance in 2018. Their divisive third album, Ultra Mono, was released in 2020, followed by the more experimental (and better-received) Crawler in 2021. Tangk, their fifth studio album, was released in 2024 (and headed my way!)

Joy as an Act of Resistance is their second studio album. In 2019, Idles were nominated for Best Breakthrough Act at the 2019 Brit Awards and later won the 2019 Kerrang! Award for Best British Breakthrough Act. That same year, the album was shortlisted for the 2019 Hyundai Mercury Prize.

There are several excellent songs on this album, maybe even all of them, so it was difficult to choose which one to feature today. I chose, “Television” because it is one of their softer-edged songs and has lyrics I would imagine most people can relate to. The band has a heart to heart with the listener and then gives remedy.

Television

If someone talked to you
The way you do to you
I’d put their teeth through
Love yourself

And that’s what they do
The bastards made you
Not want to look like you
So you pay through the nose
To look like someone else
All the weirdos on the shelf

Love yourself
Love yourself
Love yourself

I, I, I go outside, and I feel free
‘Cause I smash mirrors and fuck TV
I go outside, and I feel free
‘Cause I smash mirrors and fuck TV

If someone talked to you
The way you do to you
I’d put their teeth through
Love yourself

And that’s what they do
The bastards made you
Not want to look like you
So you pay through the nose
To look like someone else
All the weirdos on the shelf

Love yourself
Love yourself
Love yourself

I, I, I go outside, and I feel free
‘Cause I smash mirrors and fuck TV
I go outside, and I feel free
‘Cause I smash mirrors and fuck TV

I spoke to God in my dreams last night
She said I’d go to heaven if my teeth was white
Medicare, Medicare, Medicare
No need for these naysayers
And the crocodile feels
And the crocodile know
And the crocodile kills

I, I, I go outside, and I feel free
‘Cause I smash mirrors and fuck TV
I go outside, and I feel free
‘Cause I smash mirrors and fuck TV
And the magazines

Television and magazines
Television and magazines
Television and magazines
I, I, I, I

Written by: Paul Frazer, Jonathan Beavis, Joseph Talbot, Mark Bowen, Adam Devonshire, Lee Kiernan
Album: Joy as an Act of Resistance.
Released: 2018