The Colby Echo

Issue date: 2/9/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Courtesy CD REVIEW

Bloc Party's Silent Alarm is an album to listen to on a night drive. It is blood pumping, hypnotic, and catchy with melodies that bounce and beats that seem to roll and punch. It was voted by NME critics as the 2005 album of the year, went to #3 on UK album charts, selling over a million copies. Singles such as "Helicopter," "Plans," and "Banquet," flew to the top of the charts, making them one of the most popular bands of 2005. Two years later, they have released their sophomore album, A Weekend In the City, and the Bloc Party sound is as vibrant as ever.

Band members Kele Okereke (vocals), Russell Lissack (guitar), Gordon Moakes (bass), and Matt Tong (drums) are back in action. Though their sound has not undergone any major changes, they seem to have found their groove. On A Weekend In The City, they're still delivering chilling bass lines and heart-sinking melodies. The songs seem to be more carefully crafted, tighter and more focused than on their debut. On Silent Alarm, the band flirted with sounding robotic. On the new album, they seemed to have mastered this grungy metallic sound. The drums pound and loop, the guitars thrash and spit out notes like machinery. Overall, they sound more confident as a band. Lead singer Kele Okereke has changed his sound slightly as well. His voice is more raw, passionate, and exact. Okereke comes alive on this album, through his sound and through the lyrics.

Though most of the lyrics focus on living in London, they also cry longingly to escape that very life. The album grapples with social inequality (Oh how our parents they suffered for nothing/Live the dream, live the dream, live the dream/Like the 80s never happened), complacency (Did you forget your blues on the weekend?/The internet will keep us together/MTV taught me how to sulk and love nothing/And how to grow my hair long), and regret (I could feel your heartbeat across the grass/ We should have run./I would go with you anywhere./ I should have kissed you by the water).

Though there are many up-tempo songs, the album does sink into solemn morbidity in places. There are places where the tracks drag, but generally the intensity is consistent and enthralling. Like the first record, they do a great job of varying the speed of the songs, and this time the slower songs are even more compelling. This gives the album a more intimate feeling, as listeners can feel the 3-dimensional soul emerging from the lyrics. Homosexuality, prejudices, immigration, and other personal challenges that Okereke has faced are subtly laced into the songs. This album breaks into the band and allows them to spill out a little more. A Weekend in the City may not be as in-your-face as Silent Alarm, but that does not mean it is not as lovable. It may not be as gripping on the surface, but they are asking listeners to hold on tight They're letting the world get to know them, and seemingly searching to get to know the world as well. It's a good thing, too, because after this album, they're not going away anytime soon.

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