A Weekend in the City

by

Bloc Party

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Wow, you've got to hand it to these guys for such a bold move. Gone are the stiff, jerky rhythms; spastic guitar riffs; and terse shouts that dominate their indie-rock scene and catalyzed their rise to fame on singles like "Helicopter."

Gone, in fact, are the singles altogether. Instead, Bloc Party has given birth to what has, in the new millenium, become a rare specimen: an album that's meant to be heard collectively, as an album. But doesn't this fly in the face of the music industry's current assumptions? With the event of file sharing, the development of the Ipod, etc. isn't there much less of a market for this kind of thing? Evidently, Bloc Party doesn't care a tick.

And after all, youthful non-conformity seems to be the spirit of the record. Its words are a stew of strung out reflections, accusations, and critiques covering love, libertinism, political fear mongering, drugs, and of course apathetic mall-going drones. Musically, it rejects the formula of the band's (former?) peers, which derive from the late 70s'-early 80s' alternative bands like Gang of Four, the Talking Heads, and (early) Cure. Instead it goes for the theatrical, taking cues from, for example, eighties metal bands (don't try to tell me you couldn't mistake the intro to "Hunting for Witches" for a techno remix of "Crazy Train"); also early 90's alternative and some of the more recent post-punk, screamo, and neo-prog groups come to mind. All this, of course, on top of jungle beats and an overarching punk rock sensibility.

Perhaps a more subtle and unlikely though is a hint of Bruce Springsteen (Just hear me out!) on songs like "I Still Remember" and "Sunday." Here we have two songs with lyrics about being young, looking at society from the margins, and being in love. They are sung over persistent, chime arpeggios, wall-of-sound instrumentation, and steady break beats. I can't help but think I'm hearing the dance club version of "Born to Run." And don't get me wrong, I think it works, especially thanks to Okereke's persistent themes of disaffectedness and dissent throughout the album.

Perhaps, as we move further along into the decade, the indie rock scene is ready to make this kind of album a success. Or maybe it came too early for the tipping point and will fade into obscurity. Either way, I think it took strength, sincerity, and creativity to put out something like this, and for my money, it's a good record.