Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
Related Articles
Drawing inspiration from the gritty energy of the 1990s New York punk scene that permeates Academy Award® nominee Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming crime caper, Caught Stealing, which will be released theatrically by Sony Pictures on August 29, IDLES have contributed four original tracks to the project’s soundtrack as well as having recorded the full film score composed by Rob Simonsen (The Whale, Deadpool & Wolverine). Also included is a striking cover of the Junior Marvin-penned “Police and Thieves,” famously covered by The Clash on their 1977 self-titled debut album. The soundtrack will be available digitally on August 29th via Protozoa / Partisan Records, with a vinyl pre-order launching the same day.
IDLES and Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Black Swan) quickly formed a creative kinship, united by a deep mutual respect for each other’s work. When Aronofsky began developing Caught Stealing he turned to his favorite band to shape the film’s sonic identity.
Together, IDLES, Aronofsky, and Simonsen formed a uniquely exhilarating collaboration, pushing and pulling from one another’s areas of expertise to elevate the greater whole. Like many of the band’s best songs, lead track “Rabbit Run” is a lean, anxious punk ripper that starts in a panic and ends in defiance. Fueled by minimal, motorik drums and distorted guitars, it mirrors the film’s central theme of confronting fear head-on. IDLES frontman Joe Talbot barrels through like a man being chased, until he turns and charges straight into the fire.
LISTEN TO “RUN RABBIT RUN” HERE
Talbot says: “This has been a huge opportunity for us that seemingly came about after a chance meeting backstage at Fallon when we both happened to be guests on the same day. But in hindsight, I realise that Darren is one of my favourite directors and his films have in some ways made me who I am as an artist. This lucid dream has been a lifetime in the making and one that I will live over and over with a huge sense of humility and joy.”
Darren Aronofsky on the collaboration: “I built Caught Stealing to be a roller coaster of fun and wanted to supercharge the film by main lining a punk sensibility. I don’t think a band has really been tasked with performing a score for a movie. Who better to collaborate with than IDLES? It has been a dream watching them bend their notes to blast a hole in our movie screen.”
Rob Simonsen adds: “I was really excited by the idea that Darren had for our third project together, which was to write a score for IDLES, using them as our orchestra. They had created original songs for the film, and building a pallette that started from their sound – the incredible textures they create through inventive use of feedback, distortion, and pedals – was a really satisfying challenge. Our work with the band was genuinely inspiring. They’re not only extraordinarily talented musicians, but individuals with clear eyes, big hearts, and bold souls.”
In Caught Stealing, Hank Thompson (Austin Butler) was a high-school baseball phenom who can’t play anymore, but everything else is going okay. He’s got a great girl (Zoë Kravitz), tends bar at a New York dive, and his favorite team is making an underdog run at the pennant. When his punk-rock neighbor Russ (Matt Smith) asks him to take care of his cat for a few days, Hank suddenly finds himself caught in the middle of a motley crew of threatening gangsters. They all want a piece of him; the problem is he has no idea why. As Hank attempts to evade their ever-tightening grip, he’s got to use all his hustle to stay alive long enough to find out…
Caught Stealing is directed by Aronofsky from a screenplay by Charlie Huston, based on his book of the same name. The film stars Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Griffin Dunne, Benito Martínez Ocasio, and Carol Kane. Watch the official trailer here.
Earlier this year, IDLES were nominated for three Grammys – Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance – for their fifth album, TANGK. It was the band’s second #1 on the Official U.K. Album Chart, following 2021’s two-time Grammy-nominated CRAWLER.
Caught Stealing Official Soundtrack tracklist:
1. 6th and A
2. Doom
3. Kim’s Video
4. Tompkins Square Park
5. 5th Floor Walk Up
6. Walk/Don’t Walk
7. Loisaida
8. Cheerleader
9. Coper
10. Flushing, Queens
11. Police & Thieves
12. Bay 15
13. Blessings and Successes
14. Alphabet City
15. Under the EL
16. Rabbit Run
IDLES 2025 Tour:
8/1 – Bristol, UK – Queens Square
8/2 – Bristol, UK – Queens Square
8/15 – Winterthur, CH – Steinberggasse
8/16 – Hasselt, BE – Pukkelpop
8/17 – Charleville-Mézières – Cabaret Vert
9/7 – Boston, MA – Fenway Park w/ My Chemical Romance
9/8 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre w/ Deftones
9/10 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Arena w/ Deftones
9/11 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Arena w/ Deftones
9/13 – St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center w/ Deftones
9/15 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena w/ Deftones
9/17 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center w/ Deftones
9/19 – Atlanta, GA – Shaky Knees
9/21 – Chicago, IL – Riot Fest
