Bloc Party A Weekend In The City Vice, 2007 amazon

If anyone has bothered to read more than a few of my album reviews, you will have noted that the only records i tend to spend the time to discuss are ones that i admire. And when i first listened to the new effort by London indie darlings Bloc Party, i fully expected it to continue that trend. However, after listening to the record through eight or ten times in its entirety (a rarity for me these days), i've become a bit disillusioned. By way of background, i was a fan of the band's 2005 debut Silent Alarm, although not to the extent that earned the group rave reviews and the status of alternative superstars. I suspected i would have a similar "good but not great" reaction to A Weekend In The City, and was therefore surprised when i found myself drawn to its understated grace on the first few listens. The opener "Disappear (Song For Clay)" begins slow and rises to a rousing chorus employing Kele and Russell's characteristic interplay of guitars. The gradual build is found on many of the songs of the album, including "Waiting For The 7.18", "The Prayer", and "Where Is Home?". Many of which are, unfortunately, lacking in invention or resonance. Even "Kreuzberg", a song that revolves around a beautiful and frail guitar riff, becomes repetitive towards the end of its five and half minutes. Part of the problem is that Kele relies heavily on his talk-sing voice in many of the songs, to the point where he seems to be fitting lyrics to music with a sledgehammer in places. Use of the word "hauptbanhoff" in the aforementioned "Kreuzberg" is particularly annoying. Another issue is that many of the songs are nicely written ... in parts. The boys appear to have generated one or two memorable sequences per song and repeated them ad nauseum. This is noticeable in "Hunting For Witches" and especially "The Prayer". However, my affection for the lead single "I Still Remember" and its hooky central riff tends to dictate my perception of the rest of the album. Placed towards the end of the record, this song inspired such an emotional reaction in me that it warmed to a number of the lukewarm, forgettable songs that preceded it. Having taken in the album as a whole and realized this deficit of my appraisal, i'm now a bit peeved. The soaring vocals Kele delivers on the single are lacking in much of the rest of the record, swapped instead for ill-fitting pretentious ramblings in a thick posh accent. Despite my gripes, i still have a significant amount of affection for this sophomore effort and look forward to seeing whether a live performance will cause me to reevaluate.

login to submit comments