Bloc Party- Intimacy.
Written by lupethefiasco on Wednesday, 27 of August , 2008 at 11:23 pm
I have no idea what to think of this album. I don’t know if I love it or if I hate it. I feel like them rushing this album made it feel more like a mixtape, than an album. But on the other hand, there are a bunch of good tracks. Every time I listen to this album it grows more and more on me.
The album starts off with “Ares” which sounds like Bloc Party trying to replicate Silent Alarm, but on a more extreme level. Of course being Bloc Party, I find this song extremely catchy. The song has this breakdown that is so reminiscent of A Weekend In The City, it seems like the producers divided the song between Silent Alarm and A Weekend In The City. Next comes Mercury, and there isn’t anything more to say about this song.
The next song, “Halo” is one of the best on the albums. Bloc Party makes pop punk so good by adding interesting guitar hooks and melodies. Every time I listen to this song it grows more and more on me.
After this comes my second favorite track, “Biko.” This song has the electronic feel of “Mercury” or “Flux”, but it’s so soft spoken and just great. For the chorus they add these hand claps that belong on a Top 40 hip-hop song, but somehow fit.
“Trojan Horse” is the first time I’ve ever heard Bloc Party use a tambourine. Weird.
The next song “Signs” doesn’t really do it for me. I don’t know what it is, it’s just boring. I just think of Hot Chip’s “Over and Over” whenever the song begins.
“One Month Off” is the standout track on this album. This song could have easily been one of the better songs on Silent Alarm, which doesn’t feature a bad track. This song has an extremely catchy chorus with creative lyrics…
“I can be as cruel as you, fighting fire with fire wood.
I can be as cruel as you, fighting lights with lights.”
This song has a Silent Alarm feel, but the way it ends says that they’re moving in a new direction, which I feel leads into the next song, “Zepharus.”
While I was writing this review, I forgot how much I love this song. There is something about the electro beat and then the choir that kicks in that makes it so epic. This song belongs in a Spiderman chase scene, and I absolutely love it. I normally dislike bands going for something epic, but Kele really holds his own against a whole choir… It gets absolutely fantastic at about 2:40 when the drums drop out and it’s just Kele belting out the chorus, with that choir. The song only gets better from there.
“Better Than Heaven” sounds like the entire middle part of A Weekend In The City, but remixed. I really don’t like this song, but once again Kele sings a dynamite chorus… The only highlight of this song. Although this song does get better towards the second half of it, I still don’t like it. Kele literally has a catchy chorus on every single track. I’ve probably sung a chorus from each song while I was in the shower, at least once.
Although I don’t particularly enjoy “Ion Square”, I can understand why they closed the album with this. It sort of sums up what has happened throughout the album, and blends all the ideas together for one final conclusion.
Overall , I liked this album more than I thought I would… But it wasn’t fantastic like Bloc Party can be. Coming from a drummer, I found this album disappointing, especially with the talent Matt Tong has shown on the past two albums. If you don’t own this album, I say go for it because it’s only $8.99, and there are a few tracks worth that cost alone.
- Add this post to
- Del.icio.us -
- Meneame -
- Digg
Comment by Captain Melody
Made Thursday, 28 of August , 2008 at 6:29 am
As a drummer you might appreciate this quote I took from Pitchfork that I put in my review -
“if the rhythm section was in the studio at any point during the recording, you’d need surveillance videos to prove it.”
If you want, check out my blog and let me know if you want to link up.
