Blog.WBRU

Bloc Party is a difficult band to categorize. With styles that range from the harsh but highly danceable post-punk realities of their 2005 debut Silent Alarm to the gloomily aggressive ballads of A Weekend In The City, they manage to simultaneously hook new fans and frustrate old ones like no other. Although the band’s potential is audible on both albums, they keep stumbling restively through various genres in search of a fitting niche, never quite honest with themselves.  What great news it was, then, when it was announced earlier this year that Bloc Party’s upcoming third release was to be named Intimacy? Could it be that Kele Okereke and his troupe finally found themselves and were ready to present to us their very own, carefully matured brand of alt-rock?

Although not quite what was expected, Intimacy starts off with a bang: ‘Setting Sun’ by The Chemical Brothers mashed up with guitar unusually ragged guitar riffs on the track ‘Ares’ . Russel Lissack’s Telecaster, in fact, sounds more like an industrial size grinder than a musical instrument and Matt Tong’s drum work is reminiscent of a slack joint jackhammer. Even Kele Okereke’s vocals present themselves as just another industrial tool used in the assembly of this song. Paradoxically, the result sounds highly individual and Okereke’s alienating vocals tell a better and more credible story than any of the lachrymose poetry from A Weekend In The City. Read the rest » »