Bloc Party – A lesson for the future

Bursting onto the scene in 2005 like an orgasm in the pants of every teenager Bloc Party were the first ‘post-punk’ band to get you doing one of those really silly dances like nobody was watching you (well it did me anyway). Their debut album Silent Alarm at times gave me grandiose-visions of blowing myself away on public transport, incrementally raising the decibel level until I had rendered myself and everyone else completely disabled. What I am trying to say is Silent Alarm was a masterpiece. Not only did it have some bloody good tunes on it but it was also a social commentary for an entire generation of young people. This mixture of musical and lyrical content makes Bloc Party a very important band indeed. Their musical philosophy bought a refreshing approach to an often boring and saturated guitar-based genre. However, with their follow-up album A Weekend In The City (released February 5th) their importance both socially and as pushers of the ‘indie-envelope’ will, I believe, ultimately turn them (and particularly frontman Kele Okereke) into modern living icons (whether they like it or not).



Social Importance:
The truth is Bloc Party are a widely misunderstood act. This new album will prove this. Labelled as a nothing more than a ‘fashion’ band by mainstream media in 2005 (with the odd political rant, yawn) meant that whilst many people rocked out to Bloc Party many didn’t delve any deeper. Frontman/Singer/lyricist Kele Okereke freely admits that he felt more comfortable at that time for it to be that way. As a writer and lyricist you are expressing yourself. Your beliefs, opinions and experiences are exposed to the world. Leaving your character open to attack and debate. But A Weekend in the City is a record brimming with intriguing, serious and deeply rooted lyrical content. Okereke is now ready to address the truth. By doing this he goes even further against the grain that so many modern British bands such as Coldplay, Kasabian and Snow Patrol follow. A Weekend In The City addresses the topics central to so many young peoples lives so accurately. The album is his unflinchingly honest depiction of a world of inner city life, drug and alcohol abuse, racism, terrorism, religion, suicide, loneliness, depression, gay sex, violence and the criticism of youth subculture. The record doesn't presume to have all the answers; it is as confused and confusing as life is for young people but when you delve a bit deeper it is profoundly moving. Oakereke's importance is not unlike that of Morrissey with The Smiths in the early 80’s but its updated to reflect the 00’s. Okereke stands to place himself in an iconic position to so many youths on the wrong side of happiness and alienation. The same role Morrissey filled 24 years earlier. An early (2004) NME review of a Bloc Party show stated “If Lock 17 [the venue] burned down tonight, you wouldn't just lose one of Britain's brightest new groups and a roomful of freeloading music journos, but pretty much every person in London who aspires to be someone. Those are the people who go to a Bloc Party gig: young writers, photographers, label managers”... those that embody of the word 'aspiration'. Oakereke speaks directly to and for this audience through these new tracks. “What I observed in my friends – and my behaviour, to a certain extent – was that all the things that people do to unwind is about embracing a void. People work nine-to-five and they hate their lives and their jobs. They go out at the weekends and try and get as fucked as possible. This is what life is for people, which is sad and frightening. None of my friends from university feel fulfilled. No-one enjoys anything. People are going deeper into this haze. The question I wanted to ask was, ‘Why are all my friends either suicidal, falling into a coke haze or having meaningless affairs?’ I wanted to try to discuss this” he said in a recent NME interview. He also professed to want to “expose the anger every non-white kid has when they’re told they’re different” - Dazed & Confused magazine. Okereke explains that he feels the need “To speak to young people in their impressionable formative years - and say something that could help them make sense of their lives. Lessen the sense of alienation and isolation that they might have.” He’s someone who speaks from experience and is qualified to do so. Semi-conceptual as an album A Weekend In The City paints a realistic portrait of the battles we fight and the faux refuges we find not only in the city metropolis (which has a tendency to intensify emotions) but in any walk of life.

Musical Importance:
Musically, Bloc Party were at a (quite rightly) self-imposed crossroads. The sooner the media and the bands resolutely old-skool fans stop expecting “Silent Alarm MK2” the better. Instead A Weekend In The City presents Bloc Party MK2. I have heard most of it (not by downloading the leak I’d like to add!). The denser and more streamlined sound is terrifically exciting. A crunching mix of guitars, electronic beeps, frenetic drum loops and multilayered vocals have been crafted into something that presents a giant leap forward for British music. Kele has said that “For me, this band is about mixing ideas from contemporary dance music and contemporary R&B and electronica and somehow trying to find a happy medium because that really is a lot of the music that really inspires me. It's not your big rock bands. So with this record I'm trying to make that clearer because I'm not quite sure how clear that was on the first record.” Everything that was unique about Bloc Party on Silent Alarm (such as Matt Tong’s angular drums and Russell Lissack’s heavily effected and atmospheric guitars) is still there but their delivery embraces change. The fact this band are from the UK should be celebrated, as not only are they one of the few British acts to really break into the US market, they are without doubt one of the most exciting and important bands in terms of musical progression to come out of the UK in recent years. Such experimentation usually arrives from everywhere but the UK. For example recent examples such as TV On The Radio, Liars, Arcade Fire and CSS are all from the US. Good British bands do what they do well, but there are few that really push this musical envelope. What effort do acts such as Snow Patrol, Kaiser Chiefs and Razorlight make to push modern music forward? Absolutely nothing! In fact (with the exception of Radiohead and Muse) the nearest mainstream act to Bloc Party to come out of the UK with a similar mentality in recent years is probably Girls Aloud!

Lyrically, what this album leaves me with is a valuable lesson. It’s this ability, as a young person in modern society to stand back and survey an existence you are part of and to make a choice before its too late. This is the effect good art can have on society. It makes us view our society and ourselves from afar; it is affected by and affects personal and social change.

"Just give me moments,
Not hours or days,
Just give me moments

If I could do it again, I'd make more mistakes,
I'd not be so scared of falling,
If I could do it again, I'd climb more trees,
I'd pick and I'd eat more wild blackberries

Musically, this album is as good as Silent Alarm and has equal staying power. It elevates the band above the Hoxton-trendy-set and raises the bar for music in general.

Do yourself a favour - don’t listen to the media, they’ll try and sell you a Razorshite album - judge for yourself. A Weekend In The City exits the highway on February 5th.

Video:
Bloc Party working on new track 'Waiting For The 7:18' @ Grouse Lodge, Ireland (how good is Matt Tong!!):


Links:
Bloc Party Official: blocparty.com
Bloc Party Fansite: blocparty.net
Observer "Kele Okereke: 21st-century boy" Interview: music.guardian.co.uk
A comprehensive guide to 'A Weekend In The City': blocparty.net/a_weekend_in_the_city