Silent Alarm

Product Information

Beyond the idea of making indie-disco music for students to sink pints to’ … Gordon Moakes, Kele Okereke, Russell Lissack and Matt Tong in 2005. It was voted 'Album of the Year' for 2005 by NME, [13] and reached number 3 on the UK Albums Chart before being certified platinum.

This is just a pop song that they put out in the middle of their career that nobody knows about, but to me it sounded like the most current but most futuristic bit of guitar-pop music I've heard. Today, Okereke’s status as a genuine pioneer is clearer: we recognise what a feat it was for a Black, gay man to front one of the most enduring British groups of a less enlightened era. The backing band is still sorely missing the generationally-great Matt Tong, and specific crescendos don’t hit as hard as they should (the epic ending of “So Here We Are” feels like it’s missing something), but it’s genuinely thrilling to hear live renditions of all of these songs once again.

During this period of hiatus Lissack revived his project Pin Me Down [64] and joined the live line-up of Irish rock-band Ash as guitarist and synthesiser player on their touring for the A–Z Series. The final track list included the Bloc Party EP edit of " Banquet" by Silent Alarm producer Paul Epworth.

Rumours throughout 2011 suggested Okereke had left the group to focus on solo work, though these were denied by other band members. They released their criminally underrated second album A Weekend in the City, a record that was seen in (at best) a similar light to The Strokes’ Room on Fire in relation to their debut Is This It in 2007.

Love this album, glad to have it, but not essential to have the vinyl as it does not provide a superior experience of this great album. But damn it, the journey is well worth it - from the blasting opening drum line of "Like Eating Glass" to the modern-pop salvos in "This Modern Love" to the rush you get when listening to "Luno". Topics span from sex and empowerment ( “Banquet”) to mental health ( “She’s Hearing Voices”) to failed relationships ( “Like Eating Glass,”) with a continued emphasis on the “helplessness and weariness” Kele experienced during his first few years of adulthood.

Some of the most noticeable changes between debut Silent Alarm and A Weekend in the City are that the songs became more layered and less raw due to inclusion of string arrangements. Both Willow’s Hover Like a Goddess and Genesis Owusu’s Get Inspired borrow from Okereke’s pacey guitar lines and vocals respectively, nodding towards Bloc Party’s punkier end. Bloc Party have had several nominations from a number of different awarding bodies during their recording career. A lot of this material is surprisingly scripted, as if someone spent whole nights in the practice space trying to get a two-bar guitar transition to work Just So. The album was recorded with Alex Newport, who had previously worked with At The Drive In and The Mars Volta, in New York City.The panning vocals are a signature 2000s indie rock thing at this point, but something about the way its done here, makes it so much more special, especially when the back and forth voices converge . Filter in their timely post-punk moves, Bunnymen gestures, and pop ambitions, and you start to feel like this is what it might have been like to listen to the Police or XTC in the early 80s; the sound of a straight-up rock band just a shade more sophisticated, and a little more interested in rhythm, than most of their peers. Nominated for the 2005 Mercury prize, it was celebrated as a record that felt energising yet introspective, capturing a sense of youthful ennui. The band members played their first concerts in Australia in July and spent the whole of August on the European festivals circuit.

After this success, the established electronic group, The Chemical Brothers, soon collaborated with Okereke for " Believe", a track on their Push the Button album. And they'll be absolutely right; at worst, Bloc Party are like one of those people who are so well-groomed that it's hard to remember exactly what they look like.Channelling the spirit of Radiohead’s OK Computer, Bloc Party imbued their early work with a distinctive velocity.