Bloc Party Weekend In The City CD

Bloc Party: Russell Lissack, Matt Tong, Gordon Moakes, Kele Okereke.
Personnel: Lucy Wilkins, Alison Dodds, Everton Nelson, Jeremy Morris (violin); Vincent Greene (viola); James Banbury (cello); Jacknife Lee (keyboards, programming); Sam Bell (programming); Liz Neumayer (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Cenzo Townshend.
Recording information: Garage; Garden; Grouse Lodge; Mayfair; Olympic; RAK.
Photographer: Rut Blees Luxemburg.
With its second full-length studio album, A WEEKEND IN THE CITY, Bloc Party seems undaunted in following up its highly acclaimed debut, SILENT ALARM, assuredly presenting another shimmering set of heady, well-honed British rock. While the band's calling cards--alternately angular and chiming guitar lines, frontman Kele Okereke's plaintive vocals, and drummer Matt Tong's precise rhythms--are fully on display, WEEKEND features the London-based quartet in a more muscular mode, a point easily hit home by the fierce opener, "Song for Clay (Disappear Here)," which is marked by roaring six-string riffs and an insistent beat.
Although WEEKEND is less dynamic than SILENT ALARM, like that earlier release, the record is generally frontloaded with more aggressive tracks (particularly the searing, dance-tinged tune "Hunting for Witches"), leaving the latter part of WEEKEND to showcase Bloc Party's shoegaze tendencies ("Kreuzberg") and pop inclinations ("I Still Remember"). Bloc Party often verges on U2/Coldplay-like grandeur here, but it defiantly retains an edge that those acts lack, making this a distinct album by a band of its time.
From the post-post-punk of their early EPs to Silent Alarm's sprawl of sounds and ideas, Bloc Party has never shied away from reinventing their music. They continue to evolve on A Weekend in the City, an unashamedly ambitious, emotional album that builds on where they've been before but still feels like a departure. Silent Alarm's eclecticism was one of its biggest strengths; not knowing exactly which Bloc Party you were going to get from song to song -- arty punks, unabashed romantics, or righteously angry rockers -- made for thrilling listening. They make the earnest, anthemic sound that was on the fringes of Silent Alarm the heart of A Weekend in the City, and it works remarkably well. It helps that the band's feelings are as focused as the music is. A Weekend in the City revolves around Kele Okereke's thoughts on life in 21st century London; in his eyes, it's a few highs and moments of belonging, surrounded by a lot of loneliness and disappointment -- not to mention racism, homophobia, and religious hypocrisy. On A Weekend in the City, Bloc Party is sadder, wiser, and more heart-on-sleeve than ever -- almost embarrassingly so, especially when compared to their aloof post-punk influences. The album's opening salvo, "Song for Clay (Disappear Here)," immediately signals that vulnerable is the new brash: "I am trying to be heroic in an age of modernity," Okereke whispers, backed by tremulous keyboards and guitars. Even when the song unfolds into searing rock, it stays intimate and implosive. Okereke still sings like there's no time to waste, but his songwriting is tempered by experience. He's become a striking lyricist, conveying ambivalence and yearning in remarkably direct terms. Over "Waiting for the 7:18"'s wintry pizzicato strings and glockenspiel, he sings, "If I could do it again, I'd climb more trees/I'd pick and I'd eat more wild blackberries"; on "Kreuzberg," he sums up the hollowness that follows a string of one-night stands: "What is this love? Why can I never hold it? Did it really run out in those strangers' bedrooms?" The hopeful songs at the end of the album are just as eloquent, especially "I Still Remember," which wraps a complex attraction between two schoolboys in a sweet, almost singsong melody: "Every park bench screams your name/I kept your tie." Indeed, A Weekend in the City is often more remarkable for its emotional impact than its actualSpin (p.84) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "They're one of the few acts that can write a song about a hangover that will also sound great during a hangover."
Entertainment Weekly (p.74) - "[D]rummer Matt Tong pumps out herculean disco-rock beats that'll work any nightclub into a froth." -- Grade: B-
Q (p.110) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "The music is spiky but widescreen throughout, with electronic trimmings and even a hint of U2's epic soundscapes..."
Uncut (p.75) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Guitarist Russell Lissack enchants on 'Kreuzberg'..."
Vibe (p.122) - "With WEEKEND, Bloc Party continue to refute genre tags, finding themselves wherever they may roam."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.102) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "A WEEKEND IN THE CITY resolves largely around a cast of twentysomething hipsters, created with obvious care and attention."