A few weeks ago, when I was rejoicing at the emergence of Brit summer 2013 (3 weeks and possibly counting), so I put together a quick lil playlist of big happy bummer choons! There's quite a big mix in there, including Everything Everything, my fave CHVRCHES song, new CSS and Bloc Party, plus some old faves by Phoenix, The White Stripes, The Police and Grimes :)
If there's one thing that this review isn't, it's time effective. Once again, apologies, part 1 - because I didn't even get this album 'til a month or so ago, and part 2 - becuase after I started writing this review, I actually forgot that it was there...
The fourth album by London based quartet, Bloc Party, imaginatively entitled.. erm, Four, dropped in late August (almost 3 months late - sorry!) and in my opinion itis easily one of the best efforts from the band as of yet, and most surprisngly of all...
It's heavy.
Yup, who'd have guessed it? Four is a tightly wound, if not ragged beast; a scruffy powerhouse collection of songs that you really wouldn't expect from an often soppy and sentimental band such as Bloc Party. That's not to say that they don't do soppy and sentimental well, and sure, they have the some amazing belters under their, er, belts (puns galore!), but for this quantity to be in a Bloc Party opus is unheard of.
The album itself is incredibly consistent in the quality of the songs, but unlike their previous albums, it feels like there is no real stand-out track. Silent Alarm had many - 'Banquet', 'Helicopter', 'So Here We Are', A Weekend In The City - 'The Prayer', Intimacy - 'Mercury', but with Four, a track doesn't leap to mind. At a push, I'd say 'Kettling', and at a further push, perhaps 'Octopus' (with it's Daft Punk guitar), whilst '3x3' surprisingly wouldn't sound out of place with Matt Bellamy on vocals - it really reminds me of something old Muse would have concocted.
Somehow, this review had turned out sounding negative - it's really not! If you've ever had reservations towards Bloc Party, end them by listening to this. They were never run of the mill, and always worth your attention, but with Four they grab you buy the collar and shake you and pull you until your reservations have been blown to smithereens.
Something which I don't think anyone, fans and fence riders alike, was expecting.
Bloc Party ended their hiatus by debuting their new single, 'Octopus', the first since their 2008 third album, 'Intimacy'.
'Octopus' is a typical Bloc Party song, jangling guitars, beeps and a rapid rhythm section, a Bloc Party somewhat removed from the experimenting of 'Intimacy' and perhaps sounding nearer to the sound of their earlier songs of debut Silent Alarm than the efforts following said first album.
However, despite the catchiness, something feels a tad underwhelming. Perhaps a punchier, more hard hitting song would have been more fitting for a comeback single. Despite this, I'm still looking forward to the release of their imaginatively titled fourth album, Four ;)
'Octopus' is available to download now. Four will be released 20th June.
This week's honour of Friday Flashback goes to 'The Prayer' by British indie band, Bloc Party!
They burst onto radars back in 2005 with their critically acclaimed debut album, Silent Alarm, which spawned hit songs such as 'So Here We Are', 'Banquet', 'Two More Years' and 'Helicopter'. 'The Prayer', however, is taken from their second album A Weekend in the City, and sees Bloc Party broadening their sound. 'The Prayer' is funky and addictive with a swooping synthesised chorus, the song documenting nightclub environments and the drug use that takes place there.
'The Prayer' may not be one of the most well known Bloc Party songs - those seem to reside on the first album - but it is certainly one of the most fun and unique!
Recently, Bloc Party have reformed and are currently making their fourth album, imaginatively entitled Four ;)
