It is a breath of fresh air when a highly anticipated new band's first full-length release is worth listening to from start to finish. Not many bands can produce an album that is solid and diverse throughout, especially on their freshman effort. Bloc Party's debut album Silent Alarm keeps Britain proud as the band lives up to the excitement and anticipation they have generated.
Although many might compare their sound to Franz Ferdinand and even Interpol, Bloc Party is extremely different and should not be lumped into a category. Bloc Party has their own unique style behind their music that separates them from other bands. Within one album, they show a range of styles with songs extremely up- tempo and others that remain more sentimental and low key. In both arenas, they shine.
\Like Eating Glass"" introduces the album, driven by heavy use of guitar, harmonies and powerful vocals. The next song, ""Helicopter"" maintains what the first track established. However, the main presence of the guitar does not mean that Bloc Party fails to bring in other instruments and experimental sound in other songs. Instead, the album is filled with innovative musical techniques rhythmically, instrumentally and vocally, which makes the album succeed.
Bloc Party's first single ""Banquet"" is dance worthy, but it is not the highlight of the album. Although, the track defines their style, it is only a brief look into the depth of the band's sound.
The song that best shows their talent and diversity is ""Blue Light."" This track is slow with guitar, drum and soft-synth in the background, but gradually the tempo builds, led by the lyrics and drums. When it reaches a climax, they add a xylophone, complementing the vocals and guitar. The vocals are interesting and well-constructed within the work. This track illustrates their variety, which is apparent throughout the album as a whole.
The insightful song construction is also present in ""This Modern Love."" Singer/guitarist Kele Okereke drives this slow track with his vocals. Okereke starts the song in a complicated lyrical pattern. He uses one vocal track to start a thought and another vocal track quickly fades in to complete his thought. Finally, both vocal tracks are paired into one building strength. Toward the end, the song manifests itself into a danceable track with an extremely intense guitar, drums and synth pushing to the last few vocal lines and an abrupt end.
On ""Luno,"" the band pushes the limits and does so incredibly well. The track starts off with a heavy distorted bass and added guitar sounds. The tempo is upbeat and pushes until the song explodes into a unique guitar solo. The end maintains the intensity with multiple layers of guitars.
Bloc Party can successfully start a song, which seems to travel in one direction and completely change the mood by the end. This change, however, seems extremely natural since the band executes it flawlessly. The entire album is well thought out, becoming stronger with each passing song.
Bloc Party's Silent Alarm has been widely anticipated, and it exceeds its potential. With many other highly anticipated albums slated for release in the next couple of weeks, hopefully their album will not be silent, but create an alarming stir in the music scene.
