Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City

Back in college - April of 1992 to be exact - I was conducting my first on-air interview on my weekly radio show. Buffalo Tom, on the heels of the release of Let Me Come Over, had made their way to scenic and lovely Hartford for a show. Chaperoning my interview was Music Director and radio goddess, Margo Edwards (who would go on to be a booker at the Middle East). The two of us threw some softballs early but eventually I treaded down the path of how their sound was becoming more accessible (read: selling out). No longer were they Dinosaur jr. jr. - and as a fan of their first two albums I was a little upset about the change. I quickly embarrassed myself and Margo did all she could to rescue the interview. All of this seems quite ridiculous now since Let Me Come Over is one of my favorite albums of all time.

So what is the developmental milestone that music lovers must attain that allows us to appreciate a musician's evolution? I stopped listening to R.E.M. when Peter Buck decided to play the mandolin full time - but that was nearly 16 years ago! At some point we learn that Bowie or Elvis Costello or the Beatles (for Christ's sake) were on to something when they moved their music forward (and frankly, sometimes backwards).

Probably the key to this successful evolution is the attainment of new attributes while remaining true to the base elements of the music. It is with this longwinded introduction that I am able to describe my approach to the new Bloc Party album, A Weekend In The City. 2005's Silent Alarm was on my of favorite 2 or 3 records of that year so I was eagerly anticipating this release.

Everything I had read in the last few months was that Weekend was a departure for the band (too much for me, or have I grown up?). I happy to report that the band has grown rather than changed. Still there is the influence of Gang of Four with the dueling telecasters riding a driving beat - one good enough to dance to. Weekend is augmented by synths and the occasional drum machine (which is usually a negative for me). But it is Kele Okereke's vocals that are more polished on this album - really an instrument rather than vocals.

I've only had a couple of listens as of this writing, but my impression so far is that it rivals Silent Alarm and may even surpass it.

Kruezberg (mp3)
Sunday (mp3)