IDLES @ QMU, Glasgow, 20 Oct

In 2018, one band above all others are dead set on tackling the big issues. Across an hour and a half of barrelling punk rock, Bristol’s IDLES tackle Brexit, mental health, anti-immigrant sentiments, toxic masculinity and the state of the NHS.

Not since Arctic Monkeys’ debut have a band felt so dialled into modern British life. IDLES are furious and they want you to know why. Fortunately, they’re also rip-roaringly fun, starting their set starkly lit and purposeful, ratcheting the tension up with the slow build of Colossus before switching gears on its manic final minute.

But first there’s a brief support spot for Heavy Lungs, a raw, energetic and ungainly quartet fronted by Danny Nedelko, a beloved pal of the headliners who lends his name to the lead single from the second IDLES record, Joy as an Act of Resistance. Heavy Lungs may not yet have a lot in the way of songcraft but they deliver a strangely likeable racket topped off by Nedelko’s aberrant charisma.

Despite landing a top five record in September there is still a DIY element to these IDLES shows, with band members tuning their own gear and flogging T-shirts at a packed merch stand. Now, however, they’re a fearsomely well-oiled beast; bearded bassist Adam Devonshire and bespectacled drummer Jon Beavis delivering one of the most solid rhythm sections out there.

As the band explode through songs like Never Fight a Man With a Perm, the darkly hilarious pen portrait of weekend hardmen, the audience go absolutely wild. This is a sweaty, passionate, exhausting and life-affirming set that showcases the remarkable fervour of those who have flocked to the quintet’s sloganeering. 'My blood brother is an immigrant,' 'I kissed a boy and I liked it,' 'This snowflake’s an avalanche' – these refrains are shouted back like anthems.

Dedicating Television to his daughter, frontman Joe Talbot stands centre stage, one arm behind his back in what deserves to become an iconic punk rock pose and yells 'Smash mirrors and fuck TV… love yourself, love yourself, love yourself.'

At one point guitarist Mark Bowen tries to jump into the crowd only to find it is simply too crammed to let him in, only tidal waves of sweat keeping audience members sliding past one another. Conducting the audience in a brief chunk of All I Want For Christmas Is You, Bowen and Talbot slide into the gritty grind of Cry To Me, declare "encores are for idiots" and rattle through the bone-crunching class war surrealism of Well Done ('Why don’t you like reggae? / Mary Berry likes reggae') before ending on Rottweiler and an explosion of guitar feedback.

After a few hours with IDLES, the avalanche seems unstoppable.