10 Essential Rock Albums Of The 2010s

Punk often gets a bad rap amongst those unfamiliar with it. Too often it's associated with neo-Nazi skinhead culture, violent behaviour and intolerance in general - to be entirely fair, there are unfortunately pockets of the scene like that. However, the entire point behind punk as an ethos is that it's all about inclusion. It was about accepting those who felt like outsiders, who had no home elsewhere, and it was about embracing one's flaws as something that made you beautiful. Punk is about community.

IDLES understand this and came storming in with their debut Brutalism, but it's the follow up, Joy as and Act of Resistance, where they really shine. Over the course of the album Joe Talbot rallies against toxic masculinity and the destructive force of the conservative government and shouts in support of feminism, immigrants, the oppressed and says precisely why it's perfectly goddamn fine to cry.

Two highlights from the album come in the form of Danny Nedelko and June. The former is a beautiful rallying cry of support for British immigrants. Not only a cry of support but a celebration of how important migrants are to this country. While June deals with Talbot's own experience with paternal grief - his daughter was stillborn. He addresses not only his grief but his right to still call himself a father, and anyone else's right to do the same who has went through that same trauma.

With this album, IDLES made punk happy and positive and vulnerable once again. God bless them.