Bloc Party: C/D?

I do have to admit that one thing I miss from the "old days" was having to wait until a new promo cycle came around to find out if all of the wild break-up rumors flying around were true or not. Not as much fun when they get debunked within hours.

They tried to follow a Radiohead route and tried way too hard I think, electronic influences, useless state-of-the nation lyrical clangers. Neither they nor their producers were talented enough to pull it off. If ever a band needed an editor.

http://blog.yellowbirdproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/the-editors.jpg

"You rang?"

No, no I didn't. Please get off my porch you lot.

They tried to follow a Radiohead route and tried way too hard I think, electronic influences, useless state-of-the nation lyrical clangers.

^^ why I lost interest in the first album. Their weaknesses were their strengths too: all that racket made political and musical sense in 2005 (lots of good memories dancing to "Banquet" and quoting "Price of Gas" in another record review) but when they became better record makers they eliminated that beguiling vagueness.

*why I lost interest AFTER the first album.

I'd also say: "They tried way too hard to think."

otm

http://www.nme.com/news/bloc-party/59460?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Lol. With the exception of AC/DC, has rebooting a band with a different singer ever worked?

― Matt DC, Wednesday, 28 September 2011 12:28 (7 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

New Order?

Seems to have worked reasonably well for Alice in Chains so far.

Alice in Chains have been going at some point since 1993?

They just released a new album in 2009 with a new lead singer, seems to have been pretty well reviewed too.

http://www.thefader.com/2012/01/03/bloc-party-confirms-reunion-new-album/

In an interview with the BBC’s Zane Lowe, Bloc Party lead singer, Kele Okereke confirmed that the band is back in tact and will be recording a new album in 2012. Fans were never given concrete reasons for the band’s shaky future, but can now look forward to a new year with new material, the first since 2008′s Intimacy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is cool and all, but based on Kele's solo tracks and the fact that Intimacy was pretty lame, I'm not sure I care anymore.

Hoping this is a return to their earlier spirit, also. Get out of Matt Tong's way and scuff up the production as stated above.

these guys went downhill so fast :( that debut album is still a cracker though

Yeah, I listened to 'Silent Alarm' the other day and quite enjoyed it. Not only that, but it made the flaws of their other albums more apparent... two things that I always find appealing about the first Bloc Party album is the frantic drumming and the guitar sound. It definitely has the most 'tolerable' lyrical content of all their albums too... not smacking you around the head with clunky lyrics about eating foie gras with complete disdain or taking ones watch off before one makes love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=s4M5EqOGsMA

this video has some clips of new music. it sounds lush... and warm, a key ingredient whose absence did a lot to spoil intimacy.

New album is imaginatively titled Four. It is their fourth.

the last two albums were definitely cold and stiff and just very rudimentary in their experimentations

BUT kele's lyrics also went way the fuck off the rails in an embarrassing way. his vocals sorta, too. so, we'll see.

haha

would it be better or worse had they titled it Nine

One of the clips of new material in that youtube sounds very Smashing Pumpkins.

i thought that too! i was even confused at first and then i realized oh it really is a bloc party song.

Ha this is great -- so I was scrounging through my old Suede fan club newsletters (as one does) and in the 'Swap That Shop' section of issue 14, winter 1997:

Kele Okereke, [with his then-address, as opposed to now, presumably], Manor Park, London

Original and very talented vocal-lyricist seeks guitar genius (Marr, Oakes, Butler) to write beautiful art rock. NOT a Suede tribute band; original and dynamic! 100% committed, real music head, style and image also. London area, willing to travel. Contact me after 5 pm on [phone number]. "Let's make it beautiful!"

As well as a musical partner, I'm also searching for various Suede bits. I'm desperately seeking copies of the promo videos to "Drowners" UK version, "New Generation," "We Are the Pigs," "Trash" and "Beautiful Ones." I'm also after copies of all the unreleased tracks: "Be My God," "Art" and "Wonderful Sometimes," as well as any decent live recordings of "Stay Together" and Richard playing "He's Dead." Any articles and posters are also most welcome.

I have a signed Suede CD and a signed (Bernard) "Stay Together" and also Bernard's black plectrum. I'm willing to pay for postage and packaging and for your services.

He would have sent that in when he was all of fifteen!

that's awesome, ned

Okereke responded critically to comments made by Liam and Noel Gallagher of Oasis in early 2007. Liam called Bloc Party "A band off of University Challenge", while Noel dismissed them as "indie shit". In retaliation, Okereke stated, "I think Oasis are the most overrated and pernicious band of all time. They had a totally negative and dangerous impact upon the state of British music. They have made stupidity hip. They claim to be inspired by The Beatles but, and this saddens me, they have failed to grasp that The Beatles were about constant change and evolution. Oasis are repetitive Luddites."[17] Ironically, when Oasis cancelled their headlining set at the Rock-en-Seine festival near Paris in August 2009 (the concert where the Gallagher brothers clashed backstage, which resulted in Oasis splitting up), it was Okereke who announced to the crowd that Oasis had cancelled their slot and dedicated their track "Mercury" to the Oasis fans in the crowd, referring to the Gallagher brothers as "those inbred twins." [18]

There was a shorter note in the next fanclub issue where he was asking to see if someone wanted to edit a fanzine, kinda fun.

Kele otm about Oasis.

Ah, that's such a great find!!

kele needs to zing oasis using fewer syllables tbh

why?

so oasis can understand duh

fair enough.

i've got a copy of the zine he used to do at school if anyone's interested, iirc it's stuff about how the longpigs were great and oasis are rubbish, plus some stuff about my high school band that he was desperate to join but we wouldn't let him in haha who's laughing now eh oh wait

Haha amazing. Was it called Noir by any chance?

yes that's it, i was going to see how much i could get for it on ebay but never got round to it. it is, er, 'not great'

kinda weird that a dude that lives on the other side of the world has a window into my adolescence eh

This is why I'm glad my own adolescence is safely in the memory hole.

very wise!

anyway i always knew the guy would make it in the industry somehow but i reckoned on him being some record company apparatchik, not what has actually turned out :(

they are kind of 'heavy' now

heavier than a death of a hamster in the family

So Intimacy has grown on me a whole lot! I've heard they're working on a new record, I'm hoping it'll be stylistically more like Intimacy rather than Four.

guess what turrican

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe7uutnarWE

this song is so bad

oh they apparently shed their drummer and bassist, nothing to see here lol

incontrovertible proof as to why you should never go full Maroon 5

Yup, I've heard this already and indeed it is truly woeful.

the new bassist is from menomena im pretty sure

Matt Tong was always Bloc Party's mvp. Now he plays with Algiers, so he knows what's up.

There was a live set of theirs broadcast on the BBC Red Button only a couple of nights ago and showcasing the new line-up ('Bloc Party MKII', as Kele referred to it), and it was like watching a car crash pretty much. Really awful renditions of the older songs mixed with new material which felt completely sub-par. The new drummer replicated the old drummer's parts faithfully, and Kele looked as if he'd been working out a lot (he seems to be twice the size he was only a few years back) but there was really no sense of the new members actually giving the band a shot in the arm or a renewed sense of purpose or anything. It just felt like (and to me, was) Bloc Party doing Bloc Party badly with 50% of the original line-up, with Okereke dominating as per usual. I just wondered why they were even doing it, given that Kele has a solo career. Personnel wise, I can see them turning into The Smashing Pumpkins, with a revolving door of people coming and going with Kele Okereke dominating. Thing is, though, at least The Smashing Pumpkins can still make decent music.

It's genuinely astonishing how bad they are. It's not like I ever want to put the first album on any more but every subsequent record is just full of these comically terrible musical and lyrical decisions.