Idles: They are NOT a punk band.

At least according to singer Joe Talbot on numerous occasions. However, there is a reason he has made this declaration on numerous occasions, many outlets and fans often slap genre titles on them like punk, post-punk, post-hardcore, etc. So maybe there is a reason for this. The band's bigger tracks are often up tempo and loud rock tracks with raucous vocals reminiscent of UK street punk outfits like The Exploited (in their early years, think Dead Cities) if they were singing. The first track that caught my attention was "Never Fight a Man With a Perm", which starts with a decent rock song cadence, building to a chorus of wailing guitars and vocals chanting "Concrete to leather!" over and over, and it's well loud, and awesome. So what genre do the Idles fit into, well, some of the previously mentioned might fit quite often, it might be easier to toss them under hard rock and leave it at that. So who might listen to them, well you could certainly listen to them with your punk friends just don't tell them it's a punk band, or with your metalhead friends too (same conversation rules apply.) The bottom line is this if you want to listen to some edgy, aggressive, and loud rock, give them a shot.