IDLES Go Full Street Fighter in New Music Video

Bristol punk outfit IDLES have released a bonkers, animated close-combat music video for their latest single “Never Fight A Man With A Perm,” taken from the band’s 2018 record Joy As An Act Of Resistance.

All bright colors and frightening, near-hallucinogenic illustrations, the new video takes on Street Fighter as a warped and sardonic art form, finding frontman Joe Talbot battling the freaky cartoon renderings of the men he sings about in the track: the semi-bionic, batshit Barry Biffa with “a jaw like a fuck-off bear trap” and big-necked, sausage-handed “Topshop tyrant” Timmy The Thyroid. Talbot’s showdown with the latter villain ends with a weird make-out session and both cartoons ascending to heaven because, well, why not?

The video was the brainchild of the creative team at Fluffer Records, made up of animator and director of photography Stella Belle Hex, writer and director Al Brown, and illustrator Russell Taysom.

“The idea for the Never Fight A Man With A Perm video came directly from the lyrics of the song and how it tackles the subject of toxic masculinity,” the team said in a statement. “Using a British take on the classic arcade beat ‘em up platform game seemed like a cool way to put this across visually.”

The band will make a main-stage appearance at Lollapalooza next month and embark on a short run of headlining shows this fall. You can find the band’s upcoming fall dates below, beneath their new music video.

IDLES Tour Dates:

October
04-06 – Austin, Texas @ Austin City Limits Music Festival, Weekend One
07 – San Diego, Calif. @ Observatory North park
08 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Wiltern
10 – San Fransisco, Calif. @ The Fillmore
11-13 – Austin, Texas @ Austin City Limits Music Festival, Weekend Two
14 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
15 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Union Transfer
16 – Boston, Mass. @ Royale
17 – New York, N.Y. @ Terminal 5

November
08-09 – Alicante, Spain @ Primavera Weekender

December
02 – Glasgow, U.K. @ Barrowland Ballroom
03 – Glasgow, U.K. @ Barrowland Ballroom
04 – Manchester, U.K. @ Manchester Academy
05 – Leeds, U.K. @ O2 Academy Leeds
07 – London, U.K. @ Alexandra Palace