Bloc Party Rock The Bloc(k)
Note: This post was supposed to go up last night, when I wrote it, but Blogger.com was on the fritz and I couldn't post it last night, hence the date stamp of Thursday mid-evening.
Ok, as I think I've now stated twice on this lil' ol' blog, Bloc Party's Silent Alarm is my favorite album to drop so far in the Year of the Nickel (like that?). Now, let me tell you why...
I am usually really flighty when it comes to my music. I'll find an album I like, play the shit out of it for a week or two, then I get bored with it and don't play it very much (Game's The Documentary is a good example-- I think it's an excellent album, probably the best hip hop album I've heard so far this year, but it doesn't get nearly the same amount of burn it used to round my way). It sinks into my brain, I know I dig it, and then I discard it for whatever new thing I've found, to come back to it on occasion. Rarely do I find myself rocking albums for more than a month (the last album I really lived with, before Silent Alarm, was Interpol's Antics).
Part of the reason why Silent Alarm has had staying power for me is that it is one of those rare albums where I constantly find a new "favorite" song on the album every three or four days. Usually, I find an album-- even a really good/great album-- and find two or three tracks that stand out to me, which I play several times until I get sick of them. It's not that the other songs are bad, it's just that they don't hit me as hard. However, there are a handful of albums where I'll start out really really liking a few songs, and then just as I'm getting bored of them, I'll discover a new song or two, get bored, then find another song. These are the albums that I define as classics in my book-- the ones that grow on you, where every song at one time or another has made you stand up and go "Hot damn!"
For me, I discoverd Bloc Party through the song "So Here We Are," oddly enough by hearing it on the radio (only time I've ever heard any Bloc Party on the radio round here, by the way). The lush guitar intro and soft spoken melody hooked me, and I was struck with one thought: This would is a perfect mixtape song (I'm compulsive about making mixes. Even when I haven't made one in months, I'm always looking for songs that'll fit on some upcoming mix, which is a nice segue into a post I have planned for the next few days). I had to go and download the album.
From there, it was fuckin' on. "So Here We Are" lead me to "Banquet," which lead me to "Positive Tension," which gave way to the album closers "Plans" and "Compliments," which soon lead me to "This Modern Love." Soon after, I realized that just about every damn song on the album would sound good on a mixtape. Seriously, you could probably pimp 6-8 singles off of this album-- there's a reason why every hipster you know, if they aren't busy sweating M.I.A. (who's dope), is creaming for Bloc Party like they're Turn On The Bright Lights-era Interpol (Am I the only one who thinks Antics beats the pants off Bright Lights, by the way?)
Silent Alarm is an album made by four gifted musicians, four musicians who are so completely in synch with each other. It's as if, simply on instinct, each band member is aware of the limitations and abilities of the other and tailors the song writing to support each member. It's as if all four guys are excellent NBA point guards, each looking for their own shot, but more interested in getting the ball to the teammate flashing out to the wing, knowing exactly where he wants it and hitting him for a wide open three. Rarely do you see bands with such singular purpose, such knowledge of self and fluidity within each and every song.
The band has an amazing ability to provide different moods and flavors throughout the album. Thus, depending on your mood at any given time, you can find a song to fit it. If you're feeling the need to pump your fist and stomp your feet, the hard charging "Banquet" is your jam, complete with subtly subdued growls and vocalist Kele Okereke's chanting of "You know I'm on fire, so stomp me out!" Or, you can go with "Positive Tension," which starts out slow and moody before exploding into guitar pyrotechnics in the last minute and a half.
Or, if you're not quite ready to totally rock, you can turn to the rolling grooves of "This Modern Love," which feature gorgeous melodies and Okereke's plaintive queery "Do you wanna come over and kill some time?" The song builds slowly, starting with soft guitar strumming and tentative drumming before progressing into rolling bass and building to Kele's conclusion that "This modern love wastes me, this modern love breaks me..." "Plans" is along the same vein, starting out slow before building to its triumphant peak.
However, if you're in a more contemplative and chill mood, Bloc Party have your back there too. For that, you must turn to "Compliments," which perfectly ends the album. This song is particularly good for the late night drive home after an evening of fun, as the band create a somber, haunting mood. This is one of those songs that, if heard at the wrong time, seems like nothing special, yet heard at the right time can be positively magical. There has been many a night when I, driving home from a friends house with the daunting task of another day of work staring me in the face only hours away, have thrown "Compliments" into the old CD player and just let my mind slide away for five minutes. It is truly an exquisitve pop song.
And that, really, is the genius of Bloc Party. Every song on the album is so damn catchy, the melodies clawing their way into your brain, yet it is done with intelligence rather than crass cheesiness. It is meticulously crafted pop goodness, an album too bold, too beautiful, too perfect to be ignored. If you emotionally invest yourself in this album, it pays a world of dividends. It rocks, it rolls, it dances, it shakes, it slows down and it speeds up, never losing sight of the groove, never taking the listener for granted.
Silent Alarm has basically been the soundtrack of my life for the past three months, and I still haven't gotten tired of it. I'm still constantly throwing Silent Alarm back in the old car CD player or cranking it on the iPod as I slide out of work, still discovering new little quirks and bits that dazzle me, still finding new "favorite songs on the album." Nothing I've heard so far in '05 (The Year of the Nickel!) has come close to touching me, to capturing me, the way Silent Alarm has. There's alot of mixtapes to be made in the near future with Bloc Party on blast!
(Also, if you like Silent Alarm, you should grab a copy of the Bloc Party EP, which collects the first few pre-Silent Alarm singles in one nice, easily digestible package. It contains an early version of "Banquet," as well as the brilliantly catchy "Staying Fat." In addition, there are several exquisite remixes floating around by the likes of M83 (Before The Dawn Heals Us also gets high marks from me in the Year of the Nickel) and Four-Tet, among others. In addition, Kele sings vocals on "Believe" on Push The Button, the somewhat underwhelming new Chemical Brothers album.Supposedly, the boys are already back in the studio, writing their next record, which is supposed to be "more lush" than this one. And oh yeah they're apparently pretty damn good live, too.)
Ok, as I think I've now stated twice on this lil' ol' blog, Bloc Party's Silent Alarm is my favorite album to drop so far in the Year of the Nickel (like that?). Now, let me tell you why...
I am usually really flighty when it comes to my music. I'll find an album I like, play the shit out of it for a week or two, then I get bored with it and don't play it very much (Game's The Documentary is a good example-- I think it's an excellent album, probably the best hip hop album I've heard so far this year, but it doesn't get nearly the same amount of burn it used to round my way). It sinks into my brain, I know I dig it, and then I discard it for whatever new thing I've found, to come back to it on occasion. Rarely do I find myself rocking albums for more than a month (the last album I really lived with, before Silent Alarm, was Interpol's Antics).
Part of the reason why Silent Alarm has had staying power for me is that it is one of those rare albums where I constantly find a new "favorite" song on the album every three or four days. Usually, I find an album-- even a really good/great album-- and find two or three tracks that stand out to me, which I play several times until I get sick of them. It's not that the other songs are bad, it's just that they don't hit me as hard. However, there are a handful of albums where I'll start out really really liking a few songs, and then just as I'm getting bored of them, I'll discover a new song or two, get bored, then find another song. These are the albums that I define as classics in my book-- the ones that grow on you, where every song at one time or another has made you stand up and go "Hot damn!"
For me, I discoverd Bloc Party through the song "So Here We Are," oddly enough by hearing it on the radio (only time I've ever heard any Bloc Party on the radio round here, by the way). The lush guitar intro and soft spoken melody hooked me, and I was struck with one thought: This would is a perfect mixtape song (I'm compulsive about making mixes. Even when I haven't made one in months, I'm always looking for songs that'll fit on some upcoming mix, which is a nice segue into a post I have planned for the next few days). I had to go and download the album.
From there, it was fuckin' on. "So Here We Are" lead me to "Banquet," which lead me to "Positive Tension," which gave way to the album closers "Plans" and "Compliments," which soon lead me to "This Modern Love." Soon after, I realized that just about every damn song on the album would sound good on a mixtape. Seriously, you could probably pimp 6-8 singles off of this album-- there's a reason why every hipster you know, if they aren't busy sweating M.I.A. (who's dope), is creaming for Bloc Party like they're Turn On The Bright Lights-era Interpol (Am I the only one who thinks Antics beats the pants off Bright Lights, by the way?)
Silent Alarm is an album made by four gifted musicians, four musicians who are so completely in synch with each other. It's as if, simply on instinct, each band member is aware of the limitations and abilities of the other and tailors the song writing to support each member. It's as if all four guys are excellent NBA point guards, each looking for their own shot, but more interested in getting the ball to the teammate flashing out to the wing, knowing exactly where he wants it and hitting him for a wide open three. Rarely do you see bands with such singular purpose, such knowledge of self and fluidity within each and every song.
The band has an amazing ability to provide different moods and flavors throughout the album. Thus, depending on your mood at any given time, you can find a song to fit it. If you're feeling the need to pump your fist and stomp your feet, the hard charging "Banquet" is your jam, complete with subtly subdued growls and vocalist Kele Okereke's chanting of "You know I'm on fire, so stomp me out!" Or, you can go with "Positive Tension," which starts out slow and moody before exploding into guitar pyrotechnics in the last minute and a half.
Or, if you're not quite ready to totally rock, you can turn to the rolling grooves of "This Modern Love," which feature gorgeous melodies and Okereke's plaintive queery "Do you wanna come over and kill some time?" The song builds slowly, starting with soft guitar strumming and tentative drumming before progressing into rolling bass and building to Kele's conclusion that "This modern love wastes me, this modern love breaks me..." "Plans" is along the same vein, starting out slow before building to its triumphant peak.
However, if you're in a more contemplative and chill mood, Bloc Party have your back there too. For that, you must turn to "Compliments," which perfectly ends the album. This song is particularly good for the late night drive home after an evening of fun, as the band create a somber, haunting mood. This is one of those songs that, if heard at the wrong time, seems like nothing special, yet heard at the right time can be positively magical. There has been many a night when I, driving home from a friends house with the daunting task of another day of work staring me in the face only hours away, have thrown "Compliments" into the old CD player and just let my mind slide away for five minutes. It is truly an exquisitve pop song.
And that, really, is the genius of Bloc Party. Every song on the album is so damn catchy, the melodies clawing their way into your brain, yet it is done with intelligence rather than crass cheesiness. It is meticulously crafted pop goodness, an album too bold, too beautiful, too perfect to be ignored. If you emotionally invest yourself in this album, it pays a world of dividends. It rocks, it rolls, it dances, it shakes, it slows down and it speeds up, never losing sight of the groove, never taking the listener for granted.
Silent Alarm has basically been the soundtrack of my life for the past three months, and I still haven't gotten tired of it. I'm still constantly throwing Silent Alarm back in the old car CD player or cranking it on the iPod as I slide out of work, still discovering new little quirks and bits that dazzle me, still finding new "favorite songs on the album." Nothing I've heard so far in '05 (The Year of the Nickel!) has come close to touching me, to capturing me, the way Silent Alarm has. There's alot of mixtapes to be made in the near future with Bloc Party on blast!
(Also, if you like Silent Alarm, you should grab a copy of the Bloc Party EP, which collects the first few pre-Silent Alarm singles in one nice, easily digestible package. It contains an early version of "Banquet," as well as the brilliantly catchy "Staying Fat." In addition, there are several exquisite remixes floating around by the likes of M83 (Before The Dawn Heals Us also gets high marks from me in the Year of the Nickel) and Four-Tet, among others. In addition, Kele sings vocals on "Believe" on Push The Button, the somewhat underwhelming new Chemical Brothers album.Supposedly, the boys are already back in the studio, writing their next record, which is supposed to be "more lush" than this one. And oh yeah they're apparently pretty damn good live, too.)
posted by Black Charles at 7:13 PM
1 Comments:
Hey Dan! Sorry I didn't catch this soooner, I was in North Carolina last week and only got back last night.
I really like your description of how a great album grows on you -- the really lasting ones have a depth that isn't always capable of being appreciated on one listening, and complexity of the nuances are something that will only come through upon repeated play. I shamefully admit I haven't picked up their album yet due to an overloaded schedule but your review has put them right at the top of my "to get" list.
Thanks for the tip.
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