Album Review: IDLES - 'Crawler'
You have to crawl before you run; but IDLES aren’t known for following the rules.
Following on the release of 2020’s Ultra Mono, Crawler is a record that takes a slight swerve. Continuing their music work in the middle of a global pandemic, it will take a toll and can influence the turnout of art in all forms - especially in music - and that influence is heard and felt in this new album. Enter Crawler.
The record starts off with a combination of tracks that differentiate it from its predecessors. Beginning with ‘MTT 420 RR’, a five-minute song that eases everyone into the album in a very unique style, it gives a slightly altered perception of what IDLES are out to achieve. Following with the tracks ‘The Wheel’ and ‘When the Lights Come On’, it can be a dividing aspect of Crawler that fans will either love or despise. It’s something new, something alternative, something that is unexpected - but no one ever said surprises are inherently bad.
Past these tunes, the resemblance of your usual IDLES album forms. 14 tracks in total, it seems that the first handful were just warmups; a small collection to get the hype going and build up to the point where it all begins to take shape in the way the Bristolian rockers have always visualised.
The standout track, with its sound and structure, is certainly the mid-list track ‘The Beachland Ballroom’. Quintessentially IDLES but still something new, something to shake you to the core, it’s one that will please many - if not all - and will definitely be one to be eager to hear on the stage when the time is right.
Crawler is one of the most ambitious IDLES albums yet, and is proof that even with just one year after Ultra Mono, the band are still evolving but never losing the edge that gave them the name they have today.
The slowest crawls lead to the fastest sprints, and Crawler wins the marathon by a mile.
Words by Jo Cosgrove