Hope Is Important - Idlewild

"Hope is important" is the second album release from Edinburgh four piece band Idlewild. You may not be familiar with them but in my opinion they are the best thing to come out of Scotland since...Sean Connery! Idlewild are Roddy Woomble (vocals), Rod Jones (guitar), Bob Fairfoull (bass) and Colin Newton (drums). Their first release was a six-track mini album called Captain, which verged on the metal side of rock. "Hope is important" on the other hand leans over to the indie side of things and makes Idlewild a more accessible band in general. However the great thing about this album is its great variety and individuality. Its clear that the ...

If you were to go by the early soundings on 'Hope Is Important' you could be confused into thinking that a diet of hard rock awaits. That's because 'You've Lost Your Way' is thrash metal with incoherent screeching vocals producing an aural meltdown. No wonder Idlewild regularly retreat to offshore islands to conduct their gigs. This sort of noise would not be permissible in urban areas where everything is within shouting distance. As 'Hope Is Important' progresses, however, the foot is lifted off the pedal a touch and the album proper kicks in. 'A Film For The Future' has a clued in knowledge of melody and while it uses a ...

If you thought punk was dead, no, if you thought that the Americans had taken over the patents on how to be a true punk rocker, then think again. Scotland's Idlewild are here to take back the crown! The band's debut album (not including their mini-album 'Captain') is a pure sonic blast of catchy and punky riffs, snarling vocals; and some mellowness to momentarily stop the headrush. Unlike, nouveau REM-esque Idlewild, on this album, the band were most closest to Nirvana - but let me stamp out that they're not cloners like Bush! The album starts with 'You've Lost Your Way', which is just over a minute and half's worth of ...