Talbot and Devonshire then both moved to Bristol where they studied at the St Matthias Campus of the University of the West of England and decided to start a band.

[20] Uncut gave it a similarly positive review, calling it "A rare rock record with the rage, urgency, wit and shattering of complacency usually found in grime".

[12][23][24] Accompanying the release of Joy, the group created an exhibition in collaboration with HM Electric Gallery in London, taking place 30 and 31 August 2018.

Following the promotional single "Mr. Motivator" in May 2020, Talbot announced their third album, Ultra Mono, in June, on Steve Lamacq's Radio 6 show.

[29] The album was supported by a further four singles; "Grounds", "A Hymn", "Model Village" and "War" in June, July, August and September 2020, respectively.

The record also features guest appearances from Jehnny Beth, Warren Ellis, David Yow and Jamie Cullum.

[30] Ultra Mono was released through Partisan Records on 25 September 2020 to predominantly positive reviews, with Louder Than War awarding it a 10 out of 10 and describing it as "the album of their career".

Matt Mitchell, writing for Paste, gave the album an 8.8 out of 10 saying that Crawler "is magnetic storytelling tempered with newfound patience".

Berman said that "the Bristol band’s fourth album plays like the dark origin story for how Idles became the preeminent life coaches of modern post-punk.

[44] On 18 October 2023 the band released the single "Dancer", featuring backing vocals by James Murphy and Nancy Whang from LCD Soundsystem.

They also announced their fifth album Tangk, which was released on 16 February 2024 and co-produced by the team of Kenny Beats, Nigel Godrich and guitarist Mark Bowen.

The idea for the video reportedly came to Talbot in a dream, and was done with not only Martin's approval but his cooperation – filming himself singing the song in order to train the AI to make it appear more realistic.

I guess we have that motorik, engine-like drive in the rhythm section that some post punk bands have, but we have plenty of songs that aren't like that at all.

British newspaper The Guardian wrote in 2024 that "the subjects the band sparred with along the way ranged from white privilege to Brexit to immigration to class, with a special wallop reserved for the crueler aspects of traditional masculinity".

[61] In November 2023, just over a month after the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, English punk-duo Bob Vylan criticised Idles as well as English punk-duo Sleaford Mods for not speaking about the Palestinian cause, saying at a concert in Dublin "How the fuck can you call yourself a political left-wing band if you are not fucking speaking up for people that have no voice at the moment?