Show Notes
IDLES. Joy as an Act of Resistance. Everything is spin, same as it ever was. Punk rock and manhood. Songs about strength. 'A bag of Michael Keaton' and other such gems.
This pressing: PTKF2158-1 https://www.discogs.com/release/12641893-Idles-Joy-As-An-Act-Of-Resistance
Website: https://hotwax.club Email: [email protected] X: @HotWaxSC Hot Wax Social Club: npub1er2vkexlh7kd56j929crc4stw83hqzvl0xpewsrv3ceyda9ld3xszwjwex Logues: npub1mc909r6rtu2kfmzfy9u5vzy60jlhgqgzty0jqlz0qhkdraxcypcqduvk2m
This week I dig into Joy as an Act of Resistance by IDLES, a huge, funny, bruised-up, life-affirming punk record that manages to be loud as hell while still making room for vulnerability, friendship, grief, identity, and the many different ways people try to define strength. I talk through what makes the album hit so hard for me, from the opening statement of “Colossus” to the swagger of “Never Fight a Man with a Perm,” the self-possession of “Television,” the heart behind “Danny Nedelko,” and the emotional weight of “June.”
I also spend some time on the gap between press-kit mythology and the primary document of the record itself, plus the threads that connect this album outward: Bristol, UK punk, Toi Derricotte’s poem that inspired the title, Heavy Lungs, Solomon Burke, and the broader value-for-value / Nostr-adjacent music community orbiting the show. If you want massive guitars, quotable lyrics, dark humor, and a record that turns tenderness into a form of resistance, this one’s for you.
Hot Wax Club: https://www.hotwax.club/ Fountain: https://fountain.fm/ Nostr: https://nostr.com/ Primal: https://primal.net/join/ Wisp: https://wisp.mobile/ Amethyst: https://amethyst.social/ Wavlake: https://wavlake.com/ GitHub: https://github.com/ IDLES: https://www.idlesband.com/ Joy as an Act of Resistance: https://idlesband.bandcamp.com/album/joy-as-an-act-of-resistance Heavy Lungs: https://www.heavylungsband.com/ Toi Derricotte: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/toi-derricotte Gil Scott-Heron – I’m New Here: https://shop.xlrecordings.com/release/346864-gil-scott-heron-im-new-here-10th-anniversary-expanded-edition The Offspring – Americana: https://www.offspring.com/music The Rolling Stones – Some Girls: https://music.apple.com/us/album/some-girls-deluxe-edition-with-bonus-video-2011-remaster/1441151295 Crack Magazine: https://crackmagazine.net/ Apple Podcasts: https://www.apple.com/apple-podcasts/ Spotify: https://support.spotify.com/us/article/podcasts-and-shows/ UpBEATs: https://upbeatspodcast.com/en/ Homegrown Hits: https://www.homegrownhits.com/about/ Sir Libre: https://sirlibre.com/ Lightning Thrashes: https://sirlibre.com/lightning-thrashes/
More from Hot Wax Club
This episode is a low-pressure format experiment to let myself freestyle a bit.
Tonight we kept things firmly in the Midwest and pulled Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois off the shelf. We dug into how this record came out of the famous 50-states concept, why Michigan made the bit feel believable, and how Illinois turned into a full-blown piece of musical world-building instead of just a state-themed indie record. We talked through the homework behind the album, the cheap gear and mostly solo recording process, the over-the-top ambition of a 22-track, 74-minute double LP, and why songs like “Chicago,” “Casimir Pulaski Day,” “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.,” “Jacksonville,” and “The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts” are the pillars that make the whole thing stand up.
Not For Sale ZZ Top’s Degüello. Adiós to the Texas petting zoo. Pulp fiction & babes. Dawn of the beard. Expect no quarter!
Not For Sale Fu Manchu’s A Look Back: Dogtown & Z-Boys. Soundtrack to a documentary about a documentary. Drag race music. Nothing wrong with a good compilation record.