Everything about Bloc Party totally explained
Bloc Party are an
English indie rock band, composed of
Kele Okereke on
vocals and
rhythm guitar,
Russell Lissack on
lead guitar,
Gordon Moakes on
bass guitar and
Matt Tong on the
drums. Their brand of indie art rock has been compared to bands such as
The Cure,
Blur,
The Smashing Pumpkins,
Pixies and
Joy Division.
The band formed in 1999 after Okereke and Lissack decided to form a band at the
Reading Festival. They went through a variety of names, before settling on Bloc Party in 2003. Moakes joined the band after answering an advert in the magazine
NME, and Tong was picked out from an audition. Soon after, Bloc Party got their break by giving
BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq and
Franz Ferdinand lead singer
Alex Kapranos a copy of their demo, "
She's Hearing Voices", which was then released as a single.
In February 2005, the band released their critically acclaimed debut album
Silent Alarm in the
United Kingdom, which
NME later made their Album of the Year. The album went on to be certified platinum in the UK a year later. The band built on this success with the release of their second studio album,
A Weekend in the City, on
February 5,
2007, in the UK and
February 6 in the
United States. The album reached a peak of #2 in the UK and #12 in the
Billboard Hot 200.
History
Formation and rising popularity (1999–2004)
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 Catholic High School, Woodford Green, for
sixth form. They bumped into each other again in 1999 at the
Reading Festival and soon after decided to form a band together. Joining later were bassist
Gordon Moakes, who answered an advert in the
NME, and drummer
Matt Tong. The band has said that the name wasn't 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 wasn't 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 independent label
Wichita Recordings in April 2004.
Silent Alarm (2004–2006)
Their debut album,
Silent Alarm, was released in February 2005 and was met with critical acclaim.
It was 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. was number one in the
NME video charts for 4 weeks.
The band were met with good reviews from critics in the
United States and they toured there heavily in the 18 months that followed. In early 2006 they finished their tour with sold out shows in both
Los Angeles,
Miami and
Berkeley. 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 with
Silent Alarm producer
Paul Epworth. The songs were released as an EP titled
Two More Years. The released of the EP was accompanied with a re-release of
Silent Alarm, which included "Two More Years" along with former single "Little Thoughts". "Two More Years" was later released to coincide with their October 2005 UK tour. The single format 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 compilation, the profits of which benefits the
War Child charity. In 2005, their album track "Like Eating Glass" was used on the
soundtrack of low-budget horror film,
Cry Wolf, and was remixed for use on
Electronic Arts skateboarding game
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.
A Weekend in the City (2006–present)
The band's second album,
A Weekend in the City, was produced by
Jacknife Lee. It was released on
February 5,
2007, in the
United Kingdom and February 6 in the
United States, though it had been
leaked previously, as early as November 2006. The album also reached #2 in the
Australian and
Belgian charts, as well as debuting at #12 in the
Billboard 200, with 48,000 copies sold. The first single, "
The Prayer", was released on January 29, and became the bands highest charting single in the
UK Top 40, reaching #4. In the build up to the release of the album, BBC Radio 1 DJ
Zane Lowe aired a live set from the
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.
The next single, "
I Still Remember", was Bloc Party's highest charting American single, peaking at #24 on the Modern Rock Chart. The band released their third single "
Hunting for Witches" with an accompanying video clip in August 2007. The single became their only
ARIA Chart entry, peaking at #20. In October 2007 it was announced that Bloc Party would release a new single, "
Flux", on
November 13—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
A Weekend In The City was on
February 5 2007, in
Reading, and was broadcast live on
BBC 6 Music that night. On
May 20,
2007, Bloc Party headlined on the
In New Music We Trust stage at the
BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend at Preston. They also performed at the UK leg of
Live Earth on
July 7,
2007, at
Wembley Stadium. Along with these, they played sets at
T in the Park and
Oxegen 07 that same weekend, as well as
Glastonbury and the
Reading and Leeds Festivals. Bloc Party announced a tour of
Australia and
New Zealand in August 2007, along with a special appearance at the
Splendour in the Grass Festival on
August 5. a day after playing at the
Austin City Limits Music Festival,
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. The band have also been announced as part of the
Reading and Leeds Festivals on
August 23 and
August 24 2008.
Musical style
Bloc Party's own variation of spiky guitar rock draws on influences such as
The Cure,
The Jam,
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 were "mildly infuriated" at such references, claiming they'd never "particularly liked" Gang of Four. To achieve their unique guitar style, numerous delay effects pedals are implemented.
During the recording of the second album, the band revealed that it would contain "some truly R'n'B styled beats, a song where [Tong] and [Moakes] play drums simultaneously [and] both eggshell-thin fragility and trouser-flapping hugeness", seemingly rejecting their typical indie rock sound. During this era, Bloc Party have developed and evolved their sound. The style has been compared to and inspired by such bands as
Radiohead,
U2,
Depeche Mode and
Björk. Some of the most noticeable changes are the songs have come more layered and less raw. 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
Further Information
Get more info on 'Bloc Party'.
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