Review #6: Bloc Party

Bloc Party-“Silent Alarm”
(Vice)

6 out of 10

Photo links to Bloc Party's website and was nicked off Artist Direct

Bloc Party seem to have come from out of nowhere. They get signed to the tiny label Vice Records, the same people who have launched excellent acts somehow overlooked by the American mainstream such as The Stills, The Streets, and Death From Above 1979 to name a few, get some hype from the U.K. press; and all the sudden they’re getting airplay on MTV’s popular “10 Spot” lineup, being written about in newspapers, and their lead singer’s collaborating with the Chemical Brothers. Usually the reason for these sudden overnight successes is that their debut albums are groundbreaking, as is the case with the Arcade Fire. But somehow this outburst of press still remains a mystery to me, maybe because Bloc Party’s debut album is nothing special.
Yes, the two singles that have received airplay on our shores, “Banquet” and “So Here We Are” are superb, “Banquet” being an absolutely catchy dance rock smash hit, and “So Here We Are” an ambient stargazer song that seems to rise from the ground and lead your way from the dregs of a dark forest to all the way back home.
And there are some great album tracks here too. “Positive Tension” includes vocalist Kele Okereke yelping in a distinct English accent, sounding amusingly like the vocal spawn of Damon Albarn and Justine Frischmann. The album’s opener, “Like Eating Glass”, is a surging letter to a departed love that seems to end in self-destruction. These tunes are spiffy, yes, but those are four tracks, and there are fourteen on this disc.
So what exactly kills this album? Luckily, it’s hard to pinpoint any one single bad point in the disc. It’s the whole effort in itself that creates an empty feeling inside. Usually, good albums have a tone or a series of tones that really dig at the caucles of your heart. The only tone throughout this whole album is a tone of smug, cold nothingness. This tone makes the album very boring and an unappealing candidate for multiple listens. Great, guys, you can play your instruments. Now try doing it like you have a reason to.
The best thing Bloc Party can do from here on out is have a little more fun with their music. Their sound is seriously capable of making me want to dance, like it did on “Banquet”. The kamikaze riffs and hyperactive drums say “Get up out of your seat!”, but when these four Brits start to slow down and stare at their Converses, I can do nothing more than sit back down. Bloc Party can confuse me in trying to choose the position in which to listen to their music all they want, but I can’t really say I’m a fan until I can effectively choose a mood to match these empty post-punk melodies.

Key Tracks: "Banquet", "Positive Tension", "So Here We Are"

Review #5: The Decemberists

The Decemberists-“Picaresque”
(Kill Rock Stars)

9 out of 10

Picture links to the Decemberists' website and was nicked off Artist Direct

Believe it or not, there really exists a band that can effectively create an atmosphere for your history homework. It’s not Schoolhouse Rock, nor is it Mozart or Bach. It’s a band that’s quietly becoming one of the most heralded of our day, and even though they speak of the otherwise forgotten subjects of barrow boys, young royalty, whaling, and courting peasants, their music is incredibly entertaining and emits unhealthy amounts of cool.
This band is Portland, OR’s Decemberists, led by bespectacled, nasal-voiced, folk-songwriting genius Colin Meloy, who has long before displayed his storytelling prowess on two previous Decemberists albums, “Castaways & Cutouts” and “Our Majesty The Decemberists”. The former was a bleak, quiet album that, although a tad boring, presented some of the saddest songs I have ever heard. The latter was more poppy and jubilant, with a tad more emphasis on instrumentals. On the latest, “Picaresque”, Meloy & Co. combine the best of the two to create the perfect soundtrack to an epic historical drama. Call it the Victorian-Era indie “American Idiot” if you must.
The Decemberists put the best of every type of mood into this effort. There are two excellent epics here, 7-minute “The Bagman’s Gambit” and 8-minute “The Mariner’s Revenge Song”. “Bagman” is solid, with an engrossing story of a fugitive with a backdrop of a great acoustic riff that melts into an orchestral cacophony and back again. But it’s “Mariner”, a more traditional song with a polka feeling to it, that really hits the spot. This songwriting is purely amazing. A fisherman happens to be eaten alive by a whale along with the very person he has been seeking to avenge for years...I don’t want to give too much away! The tone of the song simply is enough to send a shiver through your entire bone structure. This is probably the best song I’ve heard this decade so far.
There are also superb indie-pop ditties here, such as “The Sporting Life”, the oddly upbeat story of a boy whose social life topples down due to an injury, and “16 Military Wives”, a quirky series of numerical one-liners about failed diplomacy and military tragedy. “Wives”, although not the best song on here, is the simplest, and thus was wisely chosen as the album’s first single.
Other gems include “The Infanta”, a towering anthem worshipping a naïve child princess who is ultimately indifferent to her situation; “We Both Go Down Together”, a striking tale of an impoverished woman who falls in love with aristocracy; and “On The Bus Mall”, a detailed landscape of a vintage red-light district.
This is without a doubt the Decemberists’ best yet, and it excites me to think what’s coming up in the future. If you are a fan of any kind of folk music or just need something really new and fresh to listen to, rush out and get this now.

Key Tracks: "The Mariner's Revenge Song", "The Sporting Life", "The Bagman's Gambit", "We Both Go Down Together"

Notice 5-1-05

(Note: I'll be adding "Key Tracks", a couple songs off each album I review that I think you should sample, to the past reviews and every review from here on out. Also, look for a review of the Decemberists' "Picaresque" in the coming days.)