Bloc Party

Bloc Party

This article is about the English alternative rock band. For the Canadian political party, see Bloc Québécois.

Bloc Party are an English indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke on vocals and rhythm guitar, Russell Lissack on guitar, Gordon Moakes on bass guitar and Matt Tong on the drums. In February 2005, the band released their critically acclaimed debut album Silent Alarm, which the magazine NME later made their Album of the Year.

Bloc Party's second studio album, A Weekend in the City was released on February 5, 2007 in the UK and February 6 in the US.

History

Formation and rising popularity (2002–2004)

Russell Lissack and Kele Okereke first met in 1998 in Essex, where Lissack had grown up and Okereke attended school. Lissack attended Bancroft's School and Okereke attended Ilford County High School then Trinity School for sixth form. They bumped into each other again in 1999 at the Reading Festival and soon after formed the band The Union, with bassist Gordon Moakes, who answered an advert in the NME, and drummer Matt Tong. After going through a variety of names, such as The Union, Superheroes of BMX, The Angel Range and Diet, the band settled on Bloc Party in September 2003, a play on block party. The band has said that the name was not intended to be an allusion to the Soviet Bloc or the Canadian political party Bloc Québécois. However, the band's bassist, Gordon Moakes, said on the group's official Internet forum that it was more a merging of the eastern "Blocs" and the western "parties", in the political sense. Moakes notes that the name was not driven by politics, but rather it "looked, sounded, seemed fine so we went with it."

In November 2003, Bloc Party had their track "The Marshals Are Dead" featured on a compilation CD called The New Cross released by Angular Recording Corporation. Soon after they released their debut single "She's Hearing Voices" on the then fledgling record label Trash Aesthetics

The band got their break after Okereke went to a Franz Ferdinand concert in 2003, and was able to give a copy of the single to both lead singer Alex Kapranos and Radio One DJ Steve Lamacq. Lamacq subsequently played the song on his radio show, labeling the track "genius", and invited them to record a live session for the show. The buzz generated off the back of the single lead to another single "Banquet" being released by Moshi Moshi, and to the eventual signing with indie label Wichita Recordings in April 2004.

Silent Alarm (2004–2006)

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Bloc Party’s Lissack and Okereke on stage in Cardiff in October 2005

Their debut album Silent Alarm, released in February 2005, was met with critical acclaim, being voted by NME critics as the 2005 album of the year, and reached #3 on UK album charts before being certified platinum in the UK. The first single from the album, "So Here We Are", made the top 5 on UK charts. Further singles "Banquet" (which reached #13 in NME's "Top 50 singles of 2005"), "Helicopter", and "Pioneers" (July 2005), whilst failing to repeat this success, managed to reach the UK top 20. The animated video for the single "Pioneers" was number one in the NME video charts for 4 weeks and was made by the Shoreditch based Mini Vegas design agency.

The band were met with good reviews from critics in the U.S.A and they toured there heavily in the 18 months that followed. In Spring 2006 they finished their tour with sold out shows in both Los Angeles, Miami and Berkeley. The album went on to sell more than 350,000 copies in North America and over a million worldwide. The band became one of the most popular new bands of 2005, and the established electronic group The Chemical Brothers soon collaborated with Okereke for "Believe", a track on the Brothers' Push the Button album. An album of remixes of tracks from Silent Alarm was released at the end of August in the UK. This remix album, Silent Alarm Remixed, retained the album's original track list and includes remixes from the likes of Ladytron, M83, Death from Above 1979, Four Tet and Mogwai.

During July, Bloc Party recorded two new tracks (titles were given of "Hero" and "Two More Years") with Silent Alarm producer Paul Epworth. The latter track was released on October 3 to coincide with their October 2005 UK tour. The songs were released as an EP titled Two More Years, accompanied with a re-release of Silent Alarm, which included "Two More Years" itself along with former single "Little Thoughts". The single format of "Two More Years" contained a remix of "Banquet" done by The Streets, for which a video was also recorded.

The band also contributed the track "The Present" to the Help: a Day in the Life compilation, the profits of which benefits the War Child charity. The single "Banquet" was sampled in 2006 by DJ Green Lantern for a track with Apathy, Tak (of rap duo Styles of Beyond) and Mike Shinoda. The track, entitled "Bloc Party", appears on Green Lantern's Fort Minor: We Major mixtape.

A Weekend in the City (2006–present)

The band released their second album, called A Weekend in the City on February 5, 2007 in the UK and February 6 in the United States, though it leaked on the internet as early as November, 2006. The album debuted at #12 in the Billboard 200 with 48,000 copies sold. It became available via the UK's iTunes store a day ahead of schedule, on February 4, and reached the #2 spot in the Official UK Chart. The album also reached #2 on CMJ's Top 200 college radio chart. The album was produced by Jacknife Lee. The first single, "The Prayer", was released on January 29. This single had been located on their MySpace since November 22, 2006. In the build up to the release of the album, BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe aired a live set from the legendary Maida Vale studio featuring a mix of old songs and new ones on his evening radio show on BBC Radio 1 on January 30, 2007. On February 1, 2007, A Weekend in the City was made available to listen to for free through the band's official MySpace page.

Gordon Moakes tuning at Madison Square Garden in 2007

The next single, "I Still Remember", was Bloc Party's first American single. The band released their third single "Hunting for Witches" with an accompaning video clip in August 2007. In October 2007 it was announced that Bloc Party would release a new single, Flux, on November 12 - ahead of their end of year gigs. The track was also produced by Jacknife Lee and can be assumed to be a continuation of the sound of their last album.

The band's first gig following the release of AWITC was on February 5 at Reading Hexagon. It was broadcast live on BBC's Music Station 6 Music that night. On May 20, 2007, Bloc Party headlined on the 'in new music we trust' stage at the Radio 1 Big Weekend at Preston. Bloc Party played at the UK leg of Live Earth on July 7, 2007 at Wembley Stadium and T in the Park and Oxegen 07 that same weekend, as well as Glastonbury and the Reading and Leeds Festivals 2007. Bloc Party have announced a tour of Australia and New Zealand in August 2007, with a special appearance at the Splendour in the Grass Festival on August 5. On September 17, 2007 they recorded a set for the PBS show Austin City Limits, a day after playing at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

On 27 October 2007 the band performed a set at London's Roundhouse with the Exmoor Singers, a London based choir as part of the BBC Electric Proms. The set included songs from both Silent Alarm and A Weekend In The City along with the first UK performance of their new single Flux. On 3 November 2007 the band performed in Dublin's Phoenix Park in front of 10,000 people, their biggest headline act so far.

According to Matt Tong, Bloc Party are in the early stages of their next album. The sound will have the "rawness" of Silent Alarm, but the "experience" of A Weekend in the City. No producer has been announced yet.

Musical style

Bloc Party's own variation of spiky guitar rock draws on influences such as The Cure, Les Savy Fav, Blur, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, The Smiths, Pixies, Joy Division, Mogwai and Gang of Four, but the band says that some of these bands are just comparisons. Particular parallels were made between Bloc Party and Gang of Four upon their arrival on the music scene, yet the band claimed they had never heard of Gang of Four until they were touted as their musical successors. The drumming on Bloc Party songs is often influenced by the London dance and R&B scene whilst the guitar demonstrates typical indie sharpness with alternative panned chords and fast chord picking. To achieve their unique guitar style, delay effects pedals are implemented and this is particularly apparent on the track "Like Eating Glass".

Coming into the A Weekend in the City era, Bloc Party have developed and evolved their sound. The style has been compared and/or inspired by such bands as Radiohead, U2, and Björk. Some of the most noticeable changes are the songs have come more layered and less raw. Some fans have complained from a lack of drums and "energy". With the release of Flux, Bloc Party's style has become even more diverse with the inclusion of electronic music. For the third album, Matt Tong has said, "I think our new stuff is going to be a lot less textured than the last record. I think the third studio incarnation of Bloc is going to be a bit like the rawer earlier Bloc, but with experience."

Discography

Studio albums

• Silent Alarm (February 14, 2005) – UK: #3, AUS: #30, US: #114
• A Weekend in the City (February 5, 2007) – UK: #2, AUS: #2, US: #12

Remix albums

• Silent Alarm Remixed (August 29, 2005) – UK: #54

EPs

• Bloc Party EP (May 24, 2004)
• Little Thoughts EP (December 15, 2004)
• Two More Years EP (October 26, 2005)

Singles

Year	Song	Initial release in	Chart positions				Album
			UK Singles Chart	IRE Singles Chart	ARIA Singles	U.S. Modern Rock
2004	"She's Hearing Voices"	UK	-	-	-	-	Bloc Party EP
	"Banquet/Staying Fat"	UK	51	-	-	-
	"Little Thoughts/Tulips"	UK	38	-	-	-	Little Thoughts EP
	"Helicopter"	UK	26	-	-	-
2005	"Tulips"	US	126	-	-	-
	"So Here We Are"	UK	5	-	-	-	Silent Alarm
	"Banquet"	UK	13	-	-	34
	"The Pioneers"	UK	18	-	-	-
	"Two More Years"	UK	7	-	-	-	Silent Alarm (re-release)
2006	"Helicopter" (re-release)	US	-	-	-	-	Silent Alarm
2007	"The Prayer"	UK	4	18	20	-	A Weekend in the City
	"I Still Remember"	UK	20	-	-	24
	"Hunting for Witches"	UK	22	-	7	-
	"Flux"	UK	8	-	-	-	A Weekend in the City (re-release)

Compilation appearances

• Help!: A Day in the Life – "The Present"
• Wedding Crashers soundtrack – "This Modern Love"
• Causes 1 – "Rhododendrons"
• The O.C. - "Kreuzberg"
• The O.C. - "Blue Light"
• "How I Met Your Mother" – "This Modern Love"
• "Malcolm in the Middle" - "Helicopter"
• Grandma's Boy soundtrack" - "Helicopter"
• Soccer AM: The Music - "Two More Years"
• Singstar Rocks- "Banquet"
• Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - "Helicopter"
• Keinohrhasen Soundtrack – "I Still Remember"
• Primeval (ITV Advert) - "Helicopter (short edit)"
• Fifa 06 -"Helicopter"
• Prison Break (Sky One Advert) - "Song For Clay (Disappear Here)"
• Need for Speed Pro Street - "The Prayer (remix)"
• Burnout Revenge - "Helicopter"

External links

• Official site
• Template:MySpace-music
• NME Artist page featuring news, reviews, videos, and photo galleries
• Bloc Party discography at MusicBrainz