Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City
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Bloc Party
Release Date: 05/02/07
Label: Wichita
Rating: 6/10
Two years ago Bloc Party sent the indie scene reeling with the propulsive beats, fiery guitar riffs and biting lyrics of their equally insightful and incendiary debut 'Silent Alarm'. On their follow up, 'A Weekend in the City', the London post-punksters team with ace producer Jacknife Lee to capture what lead singer Kele Okereke describes in interviews as "the living noise of a metropolis" (ooh, get him! etc - Ed).
Apparently, that's indicative of a more introspective, less rebellious outlook, crafted into a hyperbole of modern day melodrama amidst a multilayered backdrop of electronic effects and vocal harmonies. Also included in this endeavor is a move away from the unbridled idealism of 'Silent Alarm' towards a darker sense of brooding and disillusionment. Their change in tone is immediately evident as opening track, 'Song for Clay (Disappear Here)' unfolds from a woeful lament to a punchy cultural critique.
The sharp sociopolitical commentary continues with 'Hunting for Witches' which takes on the anti-terrorist hysteria that ensued following the July 2005 London bombings. Building upon these hard charging aesthetics and histrionic antics, 'A Weekend...' settles firmly into the driving rhythms and juicy hooks of 'The Prayer' and 'Uniform', but as the album progresses, the tracks quickly begin to sound formulaic and mechanical. Seemingly, Bloc Party fall right into the sophomoric clichés of whining and self-absorption that plague all too many second efforts.
Soon, after ruminating over the "bitter taste" of unfulling sex (‘Kreuzberg’), Okereke pines for the ambiguity of adolescence ('I Still Remember') before closing on a suicide note ('SRXT'). Though not entirely as enticing as its early tracks suggest, 'A Weekend...'s surging highs and sobering lows either surmount each other too frequently, or not frequently enough, to sustain the delicate balanced needed to fulfill its weighty themes.
Aaron Lafont
Bloc Party Official Site
Bloc Party Myspace
Buy Bloc Party CDs | Buy Bloc Party mp3s | Buy Bloc Party Tickets | Buy Bloc Party Merch
Release Date: 05/02/07
Label: Wichita
Rating: 6/10
Two years ago Bloc Party sent the indie scene reeling with the propulsive beats, fiery guitar riffs and biting lyrics of their equally insightful and incendiary debut 'Silent Alarm'. On their follow up, 'A Weekend in the City', the London post-punksters team with ace producer Jacknife Lee to capture what lead singer Kele Okereke describes in interviews as "the living noise of a metropolis" (ooh, get him! etc - Ed).
Apparently, that's indicative of a more introspective, less rebellious outlook, crafted into a hyperbole of modern day melodrama amidst a multilayered backdrop of electronic effects and vocal harmonies. Also included in this endeavor is a move away from the unbridled idealism of 'Silent Alarm' towards a darker sense of brooding and disillusionment. Their change in tone is immediately evident as opening track, 'Song for Clay (Disappear Here)' unfolds from a woeful lament to a punchy cultural critique.
The sharp sociopolitical commentary continues with 'Hunting for Witches' which takes on the anti-terrorist hysteria that ensued following the July 2005 London bombings. Building upon these hard charging aesthetics and histrionic antics, 'A Weekend...' settles firmly into the driving rhythms and juicy hooks of 'The Prayer' and 'Uniform', but as the album progresses, the tracks quickly begin to sound formulaic and mechanical. Seemingly, Bloc Party fall right into the sophomoric clichés of whining and self-absorption that plague all too many second efforts.
Soon, after ruminating over the "bitter taste" of unfulling sex (‘Kreuzberg’), Okereke pines for the ambiguity of adolescence ('I Still Remember') before closing on a suicide note ('SRXT'). Though not entirely as enticing as its early tracks suggest, 'A Weekend...'s surging highs and sobering lows either surmount each other too frequently, or not frequently enough, to sustain the delicate balanced needed to fulfill its weighty themes.
Aaron Lafont
Bloc Party Official Site
Bloc Party Myspace
Buy Bloc Party CDs | Buy Bloc Party mp3s | Buy Bloc Party Tickets | Buy Bloc Party Merch
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