Bloc Party – A Weekend In The City Review
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 02.09.2007
UK indie rockers return with a new sound…take notice!
My Story
One of the best trends on the indie scene today is the blending of different sonic elements to create a new sound. Several bands have combined genres and became indie darlings, everyone from the Flaming Lips to Beck to Keane to Mew. The problem is, sometimes genres just weren’t meant to go together and the result is more something like peanut butter and tuna fish than peanut butter and jelly. What good is pioneering a new sound if it’s not pleasing to listen to?
Bloc Party broke huge when they debuted in 2005, their sound a palatable combination of Sonic Youth-inspired art rock noise and the straight ahead pop/rock of folks like U2 and Blur. Will their second album continue that formula or attempt to throw something else in the mix?
Their Story
Though, officially, Bloc Party only formed in 2003, the seeds of the band were sewn as early as 1998, when guitarist Russell Lissack guitarist/singer Kele Okereke met in Essex. The pair lost touch for a year or so, but then a chance meeting between the two at the 1999 Reading Festival led to the formation of the band Union. By 2002, Union had added to their ranks bassist Gordon Moakes and drummer Matt Tong. The foursome put together a demo in 2003, but by the close of the year, had changed their name to Bloc Party.
The first publicly available Bloc Party songs weren’t exactly major successes, but they did lead to a bit of buzz. The band caught a break when both Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand frontman) and BBC One were turned onto their debut single, “She’s Hearing Voices”. Those two important fans led to Bloc Party playing a career making in-studio radio concert on BBC One, as well as their invite to play at a 10th anniversary show for indie label Domino. Their second single, “Banquet”, arrived not long later, which was itself followed by the band’s signing to Wichita Recordings.
2005 saw the release of Silent Alarm, Bloc Party’s debut album. The disc was met with instant favor, especially in the UK, where it was voted the top indie album of the year. Alarm also spawned several hit singles for the group, including the Top 5 hit “So Here We Are”. Demand was so great for Bloc Party material that Wichita released a collection of Silent Alarm remixes in summer of ’05 to capitalize on the fan anticipation.
Following the success of their debut, Bloc Party has kept busy recording and touring. They had a hit with a one-off single called “Two More Years”, which reached #7 on the UK charts near the end of 2005. Most recently, the group embarked on a winter ’06 tour with Panic! At The Disco, but were forced to drop out due to medical problems incurred by drummer Tong (a collapsed lung!).
The band announced their second full-length release at the end of 2006. The first single for that album, “The Prayer”, was released at the end of January, 2007, though the song (and the album) had been available for over a month in free streaming audio format on the band’s website.
The Album
On February 6, 2007, Wichita/V2 Recordings released A Weekend In The City, the second album by Bloc Party and the follow-up to 2005’s Silent Alarm. Interestingly, there are more bonus tracks on the various incarnations of the CD than there are songs on the album proper. The Japanese version of the CD contains the bonus tracks “England” and “We Were Lovers”, the iTunes version contains the bonus track “Cain Said To Abel” and the preorder only cut “Atonement”. The UK iTunes release contains a remix of “The Prayer”. A Best Buy exclusive version of the CD contains the bonus tracks “Version 2.0” and “Emma Kate’s Accident”. The Canadian release of the album, as well as the Target retail exclusive, contains the bonus songs “Secrets” and “The Once And Future King”. Digital versions downloaded from eMusic contain the extra track “Rhododendron”. The version of the album downloaded from Napster and Rhapsody contains the bonus tune “Selfish Son”. Finally, PureVolume made available the exclusive song “Vision Of Heaven”, which is free to download. There’s also a DVD/CD package, which contains videos and behind the scenes footage.
The Band: 8.0
Kele Okereke: vocals, guitar
Russell Lissack: guitar
Gordon Moakes: bass
Matt Tong: drums
It’s really no surprise that Bloc Party’s sound has evolved on this album, given the eclecticism of their debut. And there is some definite good things that come from that evolution. While Silent Alarm was all over the place, Weekend In The City has a focus that drives it. The songs are more of a whole than “Listen to us play this, now listen to us play this”. It’s easy to see Bloc Party as a serious band here.
Jackknife Lee is the producer here, and he does a great job of adding lush sonic landscapes for the group to play over. Weekend never gets too overblown though, and it’s the lyrics and emotions that stay at the forefront here. As for the music, Bloc Party has moved more towards straight ahead rock on this album, a la Coldplay, but there’s still that Radiohead-like experimentation that will keep fans pouring over these tracks, looking for new elements. Matt Tong’s drumming is excellent on this set, and he just may be the best skins man in all of indie rock right now. Lissack does a great job on the guitar, too, and when he breaks into a rare solo (like the all too brief part in “Sunday”), you can feel the beauty of these tracks just rising.
That’s not to say Weekend is just an art rock album. It’s a head nodder, to be sure, and will no doubt produce several live favorites. Still, the overall attitude of the set is controlled by lead singer Okereke, who is decidedly moody here. Okelekes vocals have gotten a lot of praise, and they sound nice hear too. His heart and his influences are squarely on his sleeve, but Kele never falls into the trap of sounding too much like another band. And that’s a good thing, because Bloc Party is their own group, to be sure.
The Songs: 9.0
1. Song For Clay (Disappear Here)
2. Hunting For Witches
3. Waiting For The 7.18
4. The Prayer
5. Uniform
6. On
7. Where Is Home?
8. Kruezberg
9. I Still Remember
10. Sunday
11. SRXT
From the first track, it’s quite obvious that A Weekend In The City isn’t gonna be a party album. The songs on the album deal with heavy themes, mirroring Okeleke’s bleak perception of life in London at the moment. And, yes, the lyrics do get emotional, but thankfully they stay away from cheesy emo territory.
Okeleke has grown as a songwriter on this album, and once again the set’s focus must be mentioned. Weekend isn’t a concept album, but it is a singular piece, and much of that quality is due to Kele’s songwriting. And, even though the songs are a bit mopey and sullen, there’s an attitude here that carries it to an urgency that will have you tapping your foot and hitting your repeat button.
The album opener (“Song For Clay”) is awesome, a track that builds from a stripped down haunter to a driving, frantic plea. Think of how the traffic on an interstate slowly builds from an early morning sprawl to a mid-morning traffic jam. “Hunting For Witches” and “Uniform” are probably the most “old Bloc Party” sounding tune on the album, bringing to mind the sort of structure that made people so nuts for Silent Alarm and the early singles. The joyful “Sunday” and the expressive “I Still Remember” are faster tempo numbers that are sure to become fan favorites as they are just gorgeous.
As a whole, there isn’t much wrong with the songs of A Weekend In The City. This album is a set of well-written, well-played music that, while may come as a shock to previous fans of Bloc Party, is sure to grow on old and new listeners alike.
The 411: A Weekend In The City finds Block Party moving away from quirky UK art rock band to full on rock stars. Their sound has a focus here that, for all its positives, was lacking on Silent Alarm. There’s a sense of oneness, not only just in the band’s skillful, rocked up playing, but also in Kele Okeleke’s heady songwriting, and that singularity makes this album a true contender for one of the top of the year. If you’re ready to be challenged, excited and wowed, as well as prepared to see your favorite “little” indie band grow into full-fledged rock stars, this CD is for you.
