Everyone tells me this is just another Indie guitar album., 16 Feb 2005

While 'Banquet', the debut single that somehow slipped past everyone, 'She's hearing voices' and 'Price of Gasoline' take us back to the eighties, with echoes of The Specials/Gang of Four/Buzzcocks, 'Blue Light' pulls us back, hinting at more modern influences altogether. Although, guessing the music collection of this band must be some feet, influences seem to come from all directions.

In 'Modern Love' and the (London)Radiohead 'Pioneers' we simply have it all.

By the time I'd got to 'So here we are' (the brilliant current single), I'd forgotten I was listening to the same Bloc Party who are now Radio 1 play-list favourites, and thought I'd just discovered something new and very interesting.
'Plans' then assures me that I have, 'we're all scared of the future', believe me lads you've got no reason to be.

There are so many high points to this album it is hard to sum it up. But I think it's definitely time we got over Franz Ferdinand and gave the credit too something really worth it, Silent Alarm.

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Like drinking nectar..., 3 Feb 2006

By	T. Miller "thischarming_man" (Bournemouth, UK) - See all my reviews

They have better riffs than Franz Ferdinand. Their songs are not boring simplicities like Kaiser Chiefs. The album is not a few good singles and then filler, like Maximo Park. In short, Bloc Party are the only real deal.

The reason why I have made the claims above is in the music. Bloc Party have created songs that weave intelligent and musically charming guitar lines in and out, creating a tapestry of sound. The drummer, with drum'n'bass influences no doubt, adds something extra: if ever there was a drummer who wasn't just 'the drummer in that band', Matt Tong is it. He is his own unique part of this incredible four-some. Equally, bassist Gordon Moakes plays an important part as well, not least on album opener Like Eating Glass, with its jumpy rhythic bass riff.
Lyrically, on first listen one might be forgiven to think that the lyrics are simply random sentences thrown together. It requires more than a casual listen to really hear and digest the lyrics. It helps, in fact, if you read them on their own: for one thing, the messages hidden within are fairly cryptic, and for another, some of the words sound like something difference (take for instance the 'red pill blue pill' line in She's Hearing Voices. It sounded like 'Don't whack no bleep don't whack no bleep' to me!)
What is quite astonishing about Bloc Party and this album is the shimmering quality throughout. Everyone recognises the singles: Banquet, Helicopter and the delectable So Here We Are. But the rest of the album is full of single potential too: the crashing Positive Tension and She's Hearing Voices, the plaintive cry of This Modern Love, the glistening icicles of guitar on Luno, and others. Some have complained about the quiter end to the album after the frenetic pace that has gone before. But Compliments and Plans just show Bloc Party's talent at making blocs of sound that don't always shoot by, but linger in your ears. In fact, these songs as well as live set-closer The Pioneers prove hidden gems in an album where you don't look forward to hearing certain songs, but the whole thing as one.

And I think that's the key. Sure, everyone loved belting out "I PREDICT A RIOT", and dancing away to Graffiti. But listen to this album: it's magical all the way through, and truly establishes Bloc Party as THE guitar band of the decade so far.

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