The importance of being Idles

Copped a load of Idles on Mark Riley's 6 Music show recently and it's just the kind of shouty bollocks that floats my boat. There's a lot of this stuff around right now of varying quality, quite possibly precipitated by the fact that an awfully large percentage of young people seem to have been totally screwed by the system. Shit happens, I know that, but not having any hope of owning your own home, relying on a zero hours contract just so you can afford to eat and looking forward to a retirement age that may well only kick in once you've received your telegram from the Queen/King/Alien Overlord has got to get on your wick a bit eh? Still they've got Snapchat, Facebook, Tinder, Grindr and a million and one other virtual distractions which is quite possibly why there's relatively little dissent, either on the streets or in the arts, right now. Which brings us back to Idles and their ilk. Sadly nothing in music or art will ever shock the world ever again. It's all been done. Everything. Okay so a few grannies in the Home Counties might raise a eyebrow at Miley Cyrus or any one of a thousand female 'pop stars' who pretty much perform as naked as the day they were born (probably 2001 judging by the age of some of 'em...jeez) but it's almost impossible to imagine the kind of furore that, say, Bowie caused when he put his arm around Mick Ronson, or when the Pistols muttered a 'rude word' on tea time telly or when Boy George genuinely confused a nation over his gender ever again. That being said some shouty bollocks sure beats a lot of the soul sappingly dull but perfectly pleasant mass music that's downloaded by the billion so here's to Idles. They're out on tour starting tonight in Bristol with a date in Brum at one of my old stomping grounds, the Hare and Hounds on the 14th. Why not take your mother along? She'll love it.