Spring Break
CD Review: Bloc Party
"A Weekend in the City"
Issue date: 3/23/07 Section: The Edge
- Page 1 of 1
Only a year after its first major release, the English alternative rock band Bloc Party has finally broken onto the U.S. rock charts with its latest album, "A Weekend in the City."
Songs on the new album still have many of the qualities from Bloc Party's first release, "Silent Alarm": Driving drum beats, cryptic lyrics and meaty guitar riffs are present throughout.
The album opens with "Song for Clay (Disappear Here)," a song that features (perhaps too prominently) the vocals of lead singer Kele Okereke. Okereke's vocals are in the spotlight of every song on the album - a somewhat unfortunate choice, because the frontman's vocals are generally not strong enough for the most powerful songs on the album.
The band's first single on the album, "The Prayer," begins with tribal rhythms and droning vocals. This song has all the earmarks of a hit single and the chorus should have been the most emotive and energetic on the album. It falls short of fulfilling that potential, however, because Okereke's voice simply does not have the strength to carry it out. The band attempts to hide this fact with effects like echoed vocals, doubling the vocal line an octave below and synthesized counter-melodies. Rather than improving the sound, the effects come off as exactly what they are: cheap tricks to cover up a weak foundation.
The second single from the album, "I Still Remember," is a far cry from what listeners have come to expect from Bloc Party.
It sounds like any rock ballad released by any other rock band: It could be mistaken for Snow Patrol, U2 or The Killers. The cookie-cutter feel of this release is utterly unimpressive and is not representative of the band's sound.
The shining hope of "A Weekend in the City" is "On," an intoxicated love song that highlights everything good about Bloc Party. Though markedly different from any other song the band has released, "On" maintains the energy and unique lyrics that fans of the band have come to expect and experiments with new effects, such as string instruments and a floating melodic line.
"A Weekend in the City" debuted at No. 12 on the U.S. Billboard 200 on Feb. 6, a coup compared to "Silent Alarm," which - despite glowing reviews from U.S. critics - never managed to crack the American charts.
Although "A Weekend in the City" is not the Indie masterpiece "Silent Alarm" was, there are moments of brilliance. Fans of the band will appreciate what remains of the old sound and will hopefully adjust to the more mainstream sound of the new material. What saves this album from being a letdown is the fact that when Bloc Party is on, it is on. Ignoring the less-than-stellar singles, "A Weekend in the City" is a solid rock album from a band that has finally gained a presence in the U.S.
- Julie Lord
managing editor
Songs on the new album still have many of the qualities from Bloc Party's first release, "Silent Alarm": Driving drum beats, cryptic lyrics and meaty guitar riffs are present throughout.
The album opens with "Song for Clay (Disappear Here)," a song that features (perhaps too prominently) the vocals of lead singer Kele Okereke. Okereke's vocals are in the spotlight of every song on the album - a somewhat unfortunate choice, because the frontman's vocals are generally not strong enough for the most powerful songs on the album.
The band's first single on the album, "The Prayer," begins with tribal rhythms and droning vocals. This song has all the earmarks of a hit single and the chorus should have been the most emotive and energetic on the album. It falls short of fulfilling that potential, however, because Okereke's voice simply does not have the strength to carry it out. The band attempts to hide this fact with effects like echoed vocals, doubling the vocal line an octave below and synthesized counter-melodies. Rather than improving the sound, the effects come off as exactly what they are: cheap tricks to cover up a weak foundation.
The second single from the album, "I Still Remember," is a far cry from what listeners have come to expect from Bloc Party.
It sounds like any rock ballad released by any other rock band: It could be mistaken for Snow Patrol, U2 or The Killers. The cookie-cutter feel of this release is utterly unimpressive and is not representative of the band's sound.
The shining hope of "A Weekend in the City" is "On," an intoxicated love song that highlights everything good about Bloc Party. Though markedly different from any other song the band has released, "On" maintains the energy and unique lyrics that fans of the band have come to expect and experiments with new effects, such as string instruments and a floating melodic line.
"A Weekend in the City" debuted at No. 12 on the U.S. Billboard 200 on Feb. 6, a coup compared to "Silent Alarm," which - despite glowing reviews from U.S. critics - never managed to crack the American charts.
Although "A Weekend in the City" is not the Indie masterpiece "Silent Alarm" was, there are moments of brilliance. Fans of the band will appreciate what remains of the old sound and will hopefully adjust to the more mainstream sound of the new material. What saves this album from being a letdown is the fact that when Bloc Party is on, it is on. Ignoring the less-than-stellar singles, "A Weekend in the City" is a solid rock album from a band that has finally gained a presence in the U.S.
- Julie Lord
managing editor
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