Album Review: Bloc Party - Four

Bloc Party
Four
Rating: Grrrr

I was beginning to wonder whether there would ever be a new Bloc Party album. 2008's Intimacy found the band almost ditching guitars altogether and embracing glitchy/cut & paste electronics and alienating a lot of their core audience in the process. In the interim, Kele Okereke released a solo album of electronic dance tracks and the remaining members were rumored to be auditioning new singers, so the prognosis for the band seemed pretty bleak. Contrary to all reports, however, Bloc Party is still alive and kicking and preparing to release their fourth record plainly titled Four.

The most noticeable thing about Four is that it a back to basics record, focusing on guitars and more minimal arrangements. Nary a synthesizer is apparent, and if there is one, it is used subtly. From the opening track "So He Begins To Lie" the guitars are grittier and more aggressive yet still angular and meaty, which leads into the buzzy drive of "3x3" and the herky-jerky rhythms of lead single "Octopus" which bounces and springs all over the place.



From there the album is almost a mirror image in quality with their debut Silent Alarm, featuring a nice cross-section of guitar workouts along with forays into more tender, atmospheric ballads. In these moments, for me, is where you really see the true spirit of the band. "Real Talk" adds some subtle use of banjo to counterpoint the solid, soaring guitar work. "Day Four" features gorgeous interplay between the guitars and an amazingly tender vocal from Okereke. And penultimate track "The Healing" finds Okereke hitting a wonderful falsetto as the guitars swoon around him.

Of course, Bloc Party would not be Bloc Party without their bread and butter post-punk attack. "Truth" is almost Bloc Party by the numbers with its ringing guitars and tight rhythm section,



while "V.A.L.I.S." and "Team A" both gather force and strength as the guitars move from more staccato bursts to a streamlined attack. Even among these more past-looking tracks, they find new ways to freshen their sound. Mid-album track "Kettling" is the best Smashing Pumpkins song Billy Corgan never wrote,



"Coliseum" starts off like a swamp blues boogie before erupting in a fury of blitzkrieg guitars, while closing track "We Are Not Good People" finds Bloc Party channeling their inner Motorhead, trading angular guitars for a grinding attack.

While not as striking as their debut Silent Alarm, Four finds the band in a more entrenched mood, focusing on the sound that made them indie darlings back in 2005. And while I was one of the few that loved their more experimental work on Intimacy, when you stepped back it just wasn't a sound that suited them. With the members seemingly isolated by all the whirring electronics, it was as if they band lacked cohesion. Four is a confident step back in the right direction for the band, and lives up to the old adage don't try to fix what ain't broke.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.