Album Club 2019 : IDLES - JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : Baskery - Coyote & Sirens
by more heat than light » Sat Sep 28, 2019 9:23 am

Anyone given this a go yet?

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : Baskery - Coyote & Sirens
by Jenuall » Sat Sep 28, 2019 9:42 am

Only had a chance for one and a bit listens so far and holding off on a write up until I give it another full play.

I really like it though!

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : Baskery - Coyote & Sirens
by more heat than light » Sun Sep 29, 2019 7:45 pm

Harry wrote:Review: Baskery - Coyote & Sirens.

Female fronted amalgamations of Indie/Pop/Rock outfits often boast quirks to bolster their 'unique-o-meter'. Grimes has her spookily raspy voice and wonderfully weird production. Pale Waves have their goth-y romance aesthetic. But Baskery have...erm...well...*crickets*

Coyote & Sirens begins stylistically akin to advert music (Shut The Catflap sounds like the soundtrack to a spot removal cream commercial), but as time ticked on, I began to appreciate Baskery's schtick more and more. Wanna Tattoo stands out, with a dirty vibe that's complimented by thumping grooves and a repetitively catchy chorus. Closer Confetti also drums up dreamy vibes that effectively wrap things up.

Coyote & Sirens' strengths are its length and variety. Baskery's sound is, in simple terms, pretty boring, so the fleeting runtime and range of styles and tempos work in their favour. There's a spattering of solid ideas here, but they're executed in a manner that's a bit bland and forgettable.

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : Baskery - Coyote & Sirens
by more heat than light » Sun Sep 29, 2019 9:36 pm

Liam wrote:Gotta say I'm leaning far closer to Harry's point of view than Steve's.. I liked 3 out of the 8 songs, and with 2 of them being the ones that open the album, the rest of the album dragged for me, which isn't great seeing as it's only 31 minutes long.

On a positive, the opening 2 tracks, Shut The Catflap and Tattoo Myself are fun, gritty and full of attitude, but most importantly absolute earworms. I found them to be a cool mixture of Fleetwood Mac and Pixies, and I was excited for what was to come. Unfortunately the next 2 tracks, whilst pleasant enough and relatively catchy, I just found to be slightly dull and lacking the energy of the first 2.

Chief of My Heart grabbed my interest again, bringing back some of that energy and instantly hooking me with that whistling intro, and the bridge offered a dark rendition of the chorus that sounds slightly off kilter, but in the best of ways. Unfortunately this was the end of my enjoyment, not to say that the next 2 tracks are bad. Hard On You is a jangly pop rock anthem that almost reminded me of one of Paramores more gentle songs, but it didn't leave a lasting impression on me, and is completely grit less compared to earlier songs. And I felt the same about Coins. Maybe the 'gritless' complaint doesn't matter to most listeners and that's fine.. But I guess I was lulled into a false sense of what I thought the album would be, only to be slightly disappointed.

Finally, Confetti was my least favourite track by far, and I can't belive they had the gall to drag this out to nearly 6 minutes! Especially on such a short album, it just felt very lifeless and increasingly dull.

For me, if your album is only 30 minutes long, then every song really needs to be up there to be considered great, and as I only liked 3, I can't say this is a positive review.. But its an album of highs and lows and not completely without merit for me


Vince wrote:It starts off so promising! The driving beats of Shut The Catflap and Wanna Tattoo piqued my interest and gave me a false sense of hope for what was to follow, but once that pace peters out in Cactus Baby you're left with the rest of Baskery's sound, which I would describe in one word as "forgettable". It took 3 playthroughs for me to reach the end of this without something drawing my attention away. We're treated to something of a renascence of that early sound with Coup De Coeur Noir and Chief of My Heart, but the final trio of tracks honestly wouldn't have sounded out of place on a Taylor Swift album.

This honestly strikes me more as a demo to send to a label to showcase what they can do more than an actual album, as the styles on offer seem to vary wildly from track to track. I feel that a little more focus would have helped this album considerably. It strikes me this album was definitely constructed with streaming services in mind, come out of the gates with a your strongest songs in the hope that listeners are drawn in and stick around for the end.

I'm sure Baskery have a place in many peoples music collection, sadly not mine. Sorry Jonathan!

Highlight: Wanna Tattoo
Lowlight: Hard on You -> Confetti

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : Baskery - Coyote & Sirens
by Jenuall » Mon Sep 30, 2019 10:40 am

Baskery - Coyote & Sirens 7/10

I didn't quite enjoyed this album as much as I had hoped when I first started to listen, it has a real drive to it but despite it's short run time it still manages to somewhat outstay its welcome. Baskery have a really nice light feel to them, with a great deal of character coming through each track, even on some of the grimier, more punchy songs it still feels like the sort of thing you'd listen to on a warm summer's night camped round a fire with some friends and some drinks. There is a real chemistry between the three members and their voices work really well together which they take good advantage of on the opener Shut The Catflap and this carries through the rest of the album.

I don't think there is anything that is necessarily challenging or groundbreaking either with their sound or in terms of the themes and lyrical content, but not every album or band need to offer that - sometimes you just want something engaging and upbeat to listen to!

The first half of the album is stronger than the second which is a shame, but that's not to say that the later songs are full-on bad - they just don't reach the same heights as what came before and are somewhat more nondescript, they don't showcase the strengths of the band as well. The last two tracks Coins and Confetti are probably the weakest for me as they have neither the light upbeat breeze or punchy beats that make the earlier songs stand out.

I would also say that this difference in quality is something which stood out more with repeated listens - the strong tracks still held their own but with each listen I had less tolerance for the second half.

Overall despite the quality dropping I'd say the good stuff that is on display here is still enough to leave me impressed with Baskery and I will be keen to see what else they have to offer.

Highlights: Shut The Catflap, Coup de Coeur Noir
Lowlights: Coins, Confetti

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : Baskery - Coyote & Sirens
by more heat than light » Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:36 am

Thanks for the review Jenuall. You were a bit late for this week's pick (which I'll post shortly) but since someone is still interested I'll keep this thread running for now. :-)

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : Baskery - Coyote & Sirens
by more heat than light » Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:37 am

Liam wrote:IDLES - JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE (2018)

https://open.spotify.com/album/27NYgZQH ... bmZND3JkVA

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : Baskery - Coyote & Sirens
by Rex Kramer » Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:47 am

Apologies, I've had a chance to listen to it a couple of times this week but I'll be honest it really didn't connect with me. The early tracks do have more of a punch to them but not enough. The more melodic later tracks are kind of forgettable. There's not much there that makes me want to dig further into their back catalogue. The fact I'm struggling to say more about it might be down to the limited amount of time I've had this week or might be reflective of my lack of interest in the album. Probably a bit of both. Sorry, it's a 4/10 for me.

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : IDLES - JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE
by more heat than light » Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:53 am

It's cool dude, I don't want people to be put off thinking they need to write essays or anything. I do, because I like to pretend I have my music journo head on, but I'd much rather see a few people giving some brief thoughts. :-)

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : IDLES - JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE
by Rex Kramer » Mon Sep 30, 2019 12:05 pm

No worries, I like a bit of Idles but haven't listened to them for a while so this will be a good catch up.

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : IDLES - JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE
by Jenuall » Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:09 pm

Giving this Idles album a listen now ... initial reaction is that this is not really my kind of thing.

It's kind of a punk or post-punk sound I guess? But whilst there's an air of menace to it it doesn't really have seem to have the bite that makes the best punk stuff stand out, or much of the charm either - yes punk stuff is anti-establishment but it also tends to have something about it that lifts it above simply lashing out and that seems to be a bit lacking here.

Nearly at the end of the first listen now and will give it another play or two to see if it grows on me.

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : IDLES - JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE
by Ironhide » Mon Sep 30, 2019 2:20 pm

Accidentally PM'd this to MHTL instead of posting in thread so here it is now.

Baskery - Coyote and Sirens


The description of this album didn't exactly fill me with confidence that I wouldn't detest every minute of it and the first two songs almost confirmed my suspicion that it wasn't for me.

However I decided to give it a chance and pressed on to the third track Cactus Baby which despite the continued faux americana styling was a surprisingly good listen, the next song Coup de Coeur Noir however is the standout track for me, sounding somewhat like an 80's era Fleetwood Mac song due to the slightly darker tone and dream-like vocals.

The second half of the album is more of the first three songs again and mostly forgettable country infused indie/pop slightly reminiscent of the mid to late 90's output from the likes of Sheryl Crow and Shania Twain and I find that kind of music incredibly dull and tedious.

The final track isn't that bad actually and seems to be a suitable way to finish things off.

Overall I neither strongly like or dislike the album but it really isn't my kind of music.

6/10

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : IDLES - JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE
by more heat than light » Fri Oct 04, 2019 4:55 pm

Jonathan wrote:Colossus opens with monotonous downtuned guitar, followed by monotonous muttery out-of-tune vocals, and nothing happens for well over a minute. Just before we hit the three minute mark, it gets a bit shouty and off-kilter. From the artwork, I guessed that this was what I was in for - music for miserable, angry people. This is going to be ROUGH. The track ends with what I can only assume is a Sex Pistols cover, because it is just that derivative.

As track 2 blunders on, I can't help but picture some thug with a microphone, overflowing with toxic masculinity, clutching a kebab in his other hand - probably has a can of special brew by his feet, purchased with his job-seekers allowance - shouting something about the establishment but lacking the intelligence to say anything meaningful about it, and so instead just reciting "These boots were made for walking" because it fits the beat slightly and his attention span wavered.

Track 3, "I'm scum" seems to confirm my suspicions. There's a mention of council estate within the first 30 seconds, and the title says it all really. Now he's plagiarising lyrics from The Prodigy. I hate pretty much everything about this so far - the lack of originality is damning, and while I can appreciate the punk aesthetic, this is literally just some twerp having a bit of a shout.

Danny Nedelko is trying to say something about immigration, but the meaning is lost amongst a random naming of famous British immigrants and occupations he probably spotted down the job centre. We are treated to an impromptu spelling bee during the middle eight, presumably an attempt to convince me that the singer has had at least some level of education.

Every other track after this blends into one long shouty angry vaguely threatening dirge, and I'm totally not into any of it.

Sorry folks, this is NOT my scene, and I actually feel dirtier for having listened to it. I have nothing good to say about this album.

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : IDLES - JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE
by Knoyleo » Fri Oct 04, 2019 5:30 pm

Not taking part in the album club, but I strawberry floating love Joy As An Act Of Resistance. That review above. :dread: I don't know how anyone can come away from an Idles album thinking Joe Talbot is thick. They seem to have totally missed the point with the album's statements on class and toxic masculinity as well. "There's a mention of council estate within the first 30 seconds" :lol:

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : IDLES - JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE
by Ironhide » Fri Oct 04, 2019 6:41 pm

To be perfectly honest I'm struggling to listen to the whole album, I've attempted is three times now and can't get beyond the fourth track.

Of the three albums so far I thought this would appeal to me the most but I just can't get into it for some reason.

I do quite like the lyrics on Never fight a man with a perm though, "You look like a Topshop tyrant, even your haircut's violent" :lol:

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : IDLES - JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE
by more heat than light » Fri Oct 04, 2019 7:48 pm

Ah, Idles. I initially gave this record a spin when it started making everyone's 'best of' lists at the tail end of last year. It quickly became apparent that it wasn't really my thing, so I shelved it and listened to something else instead. Of course the beauty of Album Club is that it convinces you to give things another try, and after three more listens I now have a proper opinion on the thing. Unfortunately, I now actively dislike it.

Thing is though, I'm not really sure why. A post punk record themed around the state of the world today should be something I can get my teeth into, but this just really rubs me the wrong way. The vocal delivery is aiming for Joe Strummer-esque cool but just feels all wrong. The music lacks any kind of pop sensibility, settling instead for chugging beige riffs and some jarring changes of tempo. And there are the lyrics.

I'm afraid there are some absolute clunkers in here. Twice we are subject to words spelled out. Love Song moronically attempts a pithy put down of greetings cards. And album nadir June (where the band briefly and bizarrely transform into The National) borrows that famous six word poem and just repeats it as infinitum, as if on the four hundredth time it might be more profound. It's embarrassing*

I should also touch on the tone of the album, which is unremittingly grim. And normally I don't have a problem with that, I love plenty of albums which contain nothing but sadness, I think it's the aggressiveness here that I find unpleasant. There's a wholly unwarranted attack on chav culture on Never Fight A Man With A Perm, and as the second track on the album it just leaves a bad taste. 'You look like you're from Love Island'. Well there's a reason to berate someone.

There are some moments where things are better, Danny Nedelko is monumentally stupid but carries a great singalong chorus, and Colossus is a decent brooding opener, but these are way too infrequent. The entire back end of the record might as well not exist, it's like someone recorded the worst bits of the first half and then put them on repeat. I'm frustrated because I want to like this, I should like it, but I can't see where all the praise comes from at all. I just don't get it. Gutted.

4/10

*Yes I am aware of the circumstances around this song, and yes I feel bad about criticising it. This should be a moving track, and it's rubbish. See 'Bear' by The Antlers for how to do this kind of thing properly.

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : IDLES - JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE
by more heat than light » Sat Oct 05, 2019 8:58 am

Harry wrote:Review: IDLES - Joy as an Act of Resistance.

(I wasn't planning to listen to and review this tonight, but after reading everyone's divisive responses I felt compelled to dive in.)

With many acts failing to channel the punk spirit (i.e. not comprehending that ideology and originality count more than lo-fi production and noisy instrumentation), it's refreshing to hear IDLES tackle the genre so competently, even if the results can be a bit snooze-inducing on occasion.

From immigrant discrimination on Danny Nedelko, to toxic masculinity on Samaritans, IDLES play with a plethora of political and social topics from a fiercely left-wing perspective a-la Enter Shikari, and I loved every word!

I wish there were more instances of commercial accessibility, like Danny Nedelko's poundingly poppy chorus. This would've alleviated a hefty chunk of the fatigue I felt as Joy as an Act of Resistance stomped through its 42 minutes (which could've been trimmed down by a hair). IDLES hit their peak when juxtaposing bombastic ferocity with hooky singalong choruses, but it's a tad too rare unfortunately.

I like Joy as an Act of Resistance, but I don't love it. Still, it's a wild ride that's silly in all the right ways (e.g. quirky lyrics like “Islam didn't eat your hamster” and “Not sure what she sees on the seashore” from Great). If IDLES lean into their ability to smartly juxtapose punk with opposing influences in future, perhaps they'll carve out a sound all their own, thrusting themselves from the 'pretty good' camp.

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : IDLES - JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE
by more heat than light » Sun Oct 06, 2019 8:15 pm

Last chance to drop in a review for this week's pick. :-)

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PostRe: Album Club 2019 : IDLES - JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE
by Jenuall » Thu Oct 10, 2019 5:24 pm

Never got a chance to give that last album a second listen - I don't think I would have made it through again anyway!


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