Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City (Wichita)
5/5
By: Alex Lee Thomson
You've gone to Christopher Lloyd's house, stolen the Delorean and headed back to late 2003, what do you see around London besides the obvious effects of the Libertines heyday? Well, you might have run into Bloc Party in their primitive form, spouting out 'Little Thoughts' and 'She's Hearing Voices' to the delight of a new wave of Brit music loving upstarts, and among them us ourselves on this very site. You could say that because the Rockfeedback anthology has a strong bind with this band, as such we're bound to fall madly in love with their second album, though beyond our personal admiration for the Party, 'A Weekend In The City' is the follow up album we knew they were capable of.
'Silent Alarm' was brilliant, there's no doubt about it, and like a plethora of other artists this year, Bloc party will be trying to refurbish their hold on the nation with a successor to their unyielding debut, but unlike Razorlight, Killers and Zutons, they've delivered what in effect is their true sound. Bloc Party unveiled themselves at a time when contemporary British guitar music was once again finding its feet and as such they were able to make up the rules as they went along. 'Little Thoughts' for example was rough, patchy and grimy, catering to the new found bohemia and grunge renaissance adorers that began to come out of the woodwork as though they'd been suspended below the surface of music waiting for Kele Okereke to rise like a foretold prophet. Their success was seemingly immediate; their music was exceptional, un-contrived, beautifully crafted and amazingly delivered with track after track verging on the edge of greatness. 'Silent Alarm' was the pseudo real escapism that Britain needed though never defined Bloc Party as a band. People held mixed views about what exactly their genre was, and as new material was in constant production, right up to 'Two More Years', the band didn't have an identity that gave an accurate depiction of where they were going.
'Weekend In The City' is that direction. Still as hazy and baffling as their preceding work, but with a clear and unrivalled attitude, it's put a picture frame around a cross section of their sound, casing a split second of their strength, purpose and artistic ability. 'Song For Clay' opens the show with a ghostly and stripped-down vocal that grows and bellows into a frantic and prog 'n' roll ramble that we'd usually associate with the group. Grinding bass lines and a stuttered structure turn your worst fears for the new album into ones of unadulterated delight and release. 'Hunting For Witches' starts with a trademark BP riff and rattles around like a pair of old baseball boots in a tumble dryer while tortured guitar chords define the blinking and reluctant chorus that hides behind bridges, pre choruses, post choruses, solos and outros that intermingle at parts into total bedlam.
This takes the album into the earliest signs of life we captured at the tail end of last year in the form of 'The Prayer'. This too has got a complicated arrangement making it hard to tell what part of the song you're in until you're either climbing out of a trough or plummeting from the dizzying heights that it at times circles. With bands understandably trying to copy the Bloc Party sound, 'The Prayer' puts them into a self made niche that no man or band could dare even approach for replication. This song begs you to wonder if Bloc Party aren't just one of the best bands around, but one of the best bands ever, and now focused and experienced, ultimately unstoppable.
A softer side of their music next with 'On', a parched and desolate oral exhibition that's imagery packed and extraordinarily gratifying to listen to... adding a welcomed break of conformity that allows you to start really enjoying the album for indie record it is. The biggest shocker on the album comes from 'Where Is Home', a track that up until the mid point seems pointless and weird-for-the-sake-of-weirdness, while being almost dated. Out bursts a chorus and suddenly its purpose is clear though, instantly transforming it into the big moment of the album, similar to when the chorus of 'So Here We Are' snapped in on '...Alarm', driving the album forward like Forrest Gump on an out of control lawnmower.
Equally as impressive moments can be found on 'I Still Remember', the emotional high point of the album and as a riff snakes it's way around the back of a simple beat that gets your head nodding and foot tapping immediately from the offset, the easy to catch vocals make it the 'Two More Years' of the collection, a sure to be fan favourite and CD looper. 'Sunday' is another fast paced and pleasing song that although doesn't ram any borders, nicely asserts the albums ability to be both brilliantly inimitable and inexorably enjoyable.
It's a record so grand it makes us want to say silly things we may regret in the future. We love albums like that. So here goes - this album could contend with 'Unknown Pleasures' for title of the classic indie album, and whilst some tracks challenge compliance, others adhere to it creating some of the catchiest music of the year, and with 'SXRT' their scope and opulence is divulged. The music could be Sigur Ros and the vocals could be Snow Patrol, and all wrapped up in an unreserved and imposing sheet of power, splendour, finesse and magic. With 'Waiting For The 7.18', we're granted another brief look at Bloc Party's signature sound both past and present. Frolicsome drums and overblown guitars laid over Kele's harmonic and extraordinary voice throttle it out with electro synths and climbing strings that culminate in the albums gracefully destructive peak.
The best track on the album though comes from the dreaded mid-album section and goes by the name of 'Uniform'. This tune is all that we love about Bloc Party circa 2003 brought up to date with everything that makes 'A Weekend in the City' great. It shifts from wailing and soaring vocal synchronizations into glitzy and shameless rock 'n' roll while constantly progressing not only the album along but the band and their craft as a whole. Somewhere around the second chorus there's no doubt that they're one of the most exciting ensembles around, in any genre or to any generation. Their music is flawless and never faulting while maintaining a fresh alertness that tenses, even more, the supports of consistency and the norm. Bloc Party are for many reasons, many people's favourite band, and as the Cure-like grandiose resonations of 'Uniform' come to an end, with this it's clear their immortality is sealed.
Artists in this article: Bloc Party
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