Bloc Party

A Weekend In The City

2.5/5

The first track, “Song For Clay (Disappear Here),” opens with the cliché calm-before-the-storm approach with soft lyrics welcoming you before an eruption of new age guitar rock, which isn’t as heavy as you might expect.

Track two, with the purposely silly title “Hunting For Witches” gives a better idea of how the album is going to be, with more predominant computer effects. Basically, this means the drums sound as if they are artificial – borderline techno – and there’s a flowing layer of electronic sounds running throughout the song. “Waiting For the 7:18” is the type of song I image the Chemical Brothers might write when the Ecstasy is wearing off. Below chiming bells, some strings and dulled distortion guitar is the thuds from the – let’s say – enhanced drums so compressed that it sounds as if the drums – if there was an actual drum set used – were miked from a neighboring room.

“The Prayer,” the band’s first single from Weekend, is the first track on the album that is seemingly void of traditional rock instruments – with the exception of drums and a wacked-out computerized guitar solo – and is something one might expect to hear at a rave, which might confuse someone who googled Bloc Party and read that they are an indie “rock” band. This is simply because you’d be more likely to crack a glow-stick and have a lollypop than head-bang and play air-guitar while listening to this song.

The following tune – which is an apt term for this album because this tune actually has a tune to it – grinds along with a good vocal line, almost U2ish, before breaking into a very 80’s sound about half way through. It begins with a Blink 182-like guitar line playing with some percussion and actually gets a little jazzy before the song fully opens up. This tune also has something that many, many songs are missing: a robot back-up singer.

Ironically, by the song “On” I was ready to turn the album off. It’s basically a sustained synthesizer with hyper background drums and vocals. It’s the type of song that travels along but doesn’t seem to reach its destination; just as you think it’s going to burst out of its shell, it goes back into the same dreary chorus. (I think we have room for another jab at the name: the song “On” turned me off – I didn’t say it would be a good jab!)

“Where is Home?” is where the album starts to find it’s stride – by which I mean, falls into a terrible rut. It is here that Bloc Party’s main recipe becomes clear: hyper quasi-techno drums, synth sounds sustained throughout, degitalized vocal line and a distorted guitar that pops in and out for dramatic effect.

“Kreuzberg” and “I Still Remember” appear to be the only songs on the album that an average rock band can cover without a Macintosh computer. With an almost Coldplay feel, “Kreuzberg” is at least an indication that Bloc Party can write music with some of the best of them. In “I Still Remember” the 80’s sound reemerges, but it is the one song that makes you want to dance while not sounding like a dance song.

Weekend ends with possibly the best song on the album, a grand finale, if you will. With shifts from soft and sweet to full and forceful, this emotionally charged tune is proof – to me – that Bloc Party doesn’t have to use so many studio tricks. The bottom line is that if you liked the first album, you’ll probably like this one. However, the day after listening to it, if you were to ask me to hum a tune, I wouldn’t be able to. The music might flow nicely, they might be good musicians and it has it’s fun parts, but very little sticks in the head. This may be a result of mixing genres that traditionally oppose each other; rock n’ roll relishes in mood swings and ups and down, while a techno genre depends on a constant throbbing of the beat. Although I admire what Bloc Party has tried to do, it’s possible that the two influences have tended to work against each other.

+Tom Patrick
April 24, 2007

Bloc Party

A Weekend In The City

3.5/5

I Still Remember is probably the truest rock cut off the album and is a good example of the nostalgic and poetic song-writing that runs throughout the disc. "I can see our days are becoming nights/I could feel your heartbeat across the grass." Another key track is Song For Clay (Disappear Here). Inspired by the 1985 novel Less Than Zero that chronicles the path of a young student who falls into a life of excess only to come out of it feeling misunderstood and alone This track has it all, from a punk rock percussive beat to some tight aggressive guitar-work to Kele Okereke's dark, melodic vocals that conjure up thoughts of Robert Smith.

Bloc Party is a band that has a unique and rich sound that, with time, is only gaining richness and quality (much like a fine wine). It is difficult for a band to stand out from the crowd and just as difficult to grow and blossom as time goes by. For succeeding on both of these fronts, Bloc Party have carved out their place in the U.K Indie/Pop scene and, it would appear for the moment, are only getting better.

+Gavin Reid
December 5, 2007