Released on the web fully two months before it hits record stores, Bloc Party’s third album is as gleaming and hermetically sealed as one of Kubrick’s monoliths.
In a highly revealing interview, Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke talks about the inspiration behind one of the albums of the year, his current listening and the band's plans for the future.
The stars are aligned tonight: a combination of the clear sound, the cheerful nature of the crowd and the infectious enthusiasm of the band made this one of this year’s live highlights.
Stamping their mark on what arguably should have been the lead track from A Weekend In The City are LA industrial duo Fury666 and Canadian duo Crystal Castles, who recently toured these parts with Cap Pas Cap. The former turns it into a bangin’ tune that Super Hans from Peep Show would be proud of, while the latter is more of a comedown that introduces some intelligent ideas to the mix. If, however, you think remixes are pointless and bands should go back to recording proper songs when releasing singles, there’s nothing here that would change your mind.
‘Hunting For Witches’ is symptomatic of the problems that have surrounded Bloc Party across their second album. While the aims are admirable – expand the musical and lyrical outlook – it hasn’t quite come together. Here they take a look at the post-7/7 hysteria that engulfed the media, but there is far too much going on in terms of beats and noises to let the message break through.
Bloc Party's A Weekend In The City is both less oblique and more understated; initially the album proves harder work than its predecessor – at the same time it's more open about what it has to say.
Recorded in the bucolic splendour of County Westmeath, Bloc Party's second album is a labyrinthine concept album about urban living. Better to take a risk, says frontman Kelé Okereke, than to repeat yourself .
Ahead of their much anticipated Electric Picnic spot, Bloc Party talk about going mad in Westmeath and explain why it’s time for a post-punk concept record.
As it happens, there is a good deal more substance to Kele Okereke and co than the average flash-in-the-pan indie outfit, and throughout 2005 their standing has grown and grown, to the point that they are now able to perform with considerable confidence and poise before a sold-out Olympia audience.
I reckon that, come December, we’ll still have found few albums to match Silent Alarm, and ‘Banquet’ almost manages to sum up all its charms in the space of one song.
“A scene that results in Pete Doherty isn’t much to celebrate,” declare Bloc Party as they outline their plan to save UK rock from the heroin chic brigade. Also up for discussion are Elton John, Ash, Thin Lizzy and why they’re nothing like Franz Ferdinand. Honest. Photos by Liam Sweney.
‘The band most likely to do a Franz Ferdinand in 2005!’ proclaims a UK music weekly. This single tells a different story. Bloc Party go one further than the usual flotsam of Joy Division-inspired noiseniks and combine their angular guitar-based funk/punk with a certain amount of heartfelt sentiment.
This is Bloc Party’s first show of the year and surely the last time for a while that they’ll be playing somewhere where the stage is so close to the back wall. They know it too, approaching it with an energy and vitality that suggests they can’t wait to get started.
More than another group of wannabes hoofing together the latest trendy noise, Bloc Party are a ridiculously sophisticated outfit and Silent Alarm is a most gratifying piece of aural amusement.
