Gallantly Streaming: Bloc Party's Thrilling Comeback

Stream Bloc Party's Four in its entirety here.

A lot of uncertainty has surrounded Bloc Party in their eight or so years of existence. Leading up to the recording of Four, it was widely rumoured that they were finished, with the members recording with various side projects and Kele Okereke embarking on a solo career singing dance-oriented songs like the ones that, by 2008's Intimacy, had begun to usurp the powerful angular blasts that had propelled Bloc Party's breakthrough debut Silent Alarm.


So when Four was announced, fans approached with a measure of trepidation. The first pair of tracks previewed from the album did little to raise excitement; lead single Octopus is too clean sounding, an experiment with beats and rhythms finely chopped, copied and pasted. Meanwhile, Day Four is a nice sounding track but, as a sweet and sentimental ballad, isn't really designed to drum up anticipation amongst anyone aside from those who fancy the solemn, sentimental A Weekend In The City above all other Bloc Party albums.

To paint Four with a wide brush, neither Octopus nor Day Four are really indicative of the album. Then again, to paint Four with a wide brush is to do the album a disservice. So here's a track-by-track rundown on what could be the year's most pleasant surprise.

We're greeted with a montage of studio banter and tape hiss before feedback leads us into So He Begins To Lie, a squealing and epic rocker that instantly does away with any doubts about whether or not Bloc Party would continue to qualify as a rock band. The drums kick up a storm toward the end of the track as one can just see the light show go ballistic when they whip this one out at festivals.

3x3 revisits some of the paranoia of Silent Alarm, introduces it to Muse's greatest hits, locks them into a very small room and throws in a single bone for them to fight over. The results won't be on the radio anytime soon, but hearing Kele both menacingly whispering "no means no" and ecstatically wailing "yes" is both thrilling and disturbing at the same time.

We've already talked about Octopus and, while I've been critical of the track's construction and choice as first single, I've tempered my disappointment of the song. It works in the context of the album, and it's not the calling card of it. And yes, it's catchy as hell.

It's followed by Real Talk, a track that doesn't pack the same punch as the opening trio. It's pleasing in its simplicity, though, as its guitars lazily bob along on a gentle rhythm. It's a nice breather, and when the banjo comes in on the second verse it's a nice surprise.

At this point, you'd be forgiven for assuming the heavier rock was behind us, and the album was about to settle into a lull. Kettling slaps you in the face with those assumptions and turns the guitars up louder, fuzzed-out power chords driving the song to the edge and complimenting Kele's chorus melody nicely. The solo is thrilling and Pumpkinsesque in its scale. Believe me, I never thought I'd use the word "Pumpkinsesque" to describe Bloc Party.

Day Four closes out the A-side, and serves as a stark contrast to Kettling's pummeling attack. Again, in the context of the album, it works mightily. It gives us a moment to take it all in; the textures, the beauty, the fact that we've just spent the better part of Side One getting our asses kicked. It's an apology of sorts, a polite reminder that they don't mean to be so vicious.

And then, they seem to back off as the second half starts, with the sultry acoustic swagger of Coliseum. Then, Kele exclaims, "the empire never ended", and the track turns into a snarling monster, with an impossibly dirty riff followed by a dazzling throwback to their Silent Alarm days, followed by a cathartic passage about pain, followed by that dirty riff again, then capping it off with some good old fashioned screaming. Wow.

The contrast is then in full effect again with V.A.L.I.S. Bouncing along on a dance beat and keeping the guitars firmly leashed, it's a rare bone for fans of third album Intimacy, but probably too sharp a turn for those of us who lost our fucking minds listening to Coliseum.

Team A gives a vibe similar to Octopus, with staccato riffing and another danceable beat. The difference is, Team A doesn't have an infectious chorus; it's there, I think, but it certainly doesn't stick out or stick in your head. That is, until the mid-point, when the guitars wrestle the song away and drag it kicking and screaming through the solo and give Kele a few seconds to breathe before shredding the song into bits while Kele howls, "I'm going to ruin your life". A great latter half for a song that most will skip over due to early boredom.

This is followed by Truth, a song that starts in the form of sweet and unassuming ballad, then gets rescued from the doldrums by a driving tempo. There's no shocking about-face this time, staying consistently affectionate throughout. It's not a bad song by any means, and I can easily imagine it being a radio smash.

The Healing comes after, and really doesn't offer much of a variance in mood, the tempo stuck in the mid-range and plodding along aimlessly. It's sonically interesting, but ultimately forgettable, the first true miss on the album.

At this point, you'd be forgiven for feeling a little disappointment, as there's only one song left and they seem perfectly content to ride it out with a trio of mid-tempo, sort of bland tracks.

Not the case.

We Are Not Good People is the heaviest song on the album, slashing and burning all the way. Side B's ending is pretty much the polar opposite of Side A's; no reassurances, no apologies, just violence, Kele repeating the titular refrain and adding, "this is a warning".

That it most closely resembles Death From Above 1979 is telling, but not really fair to the song. The main riff will recall the Canadian indie icons, but the background noises bring the song and its sinister vibe to a whole other level. If you're paying attention, you'll hear some creepy, Mike Patton-esque screeches after the first chorus. The solo is demented and elastic. The song is a beast, plain and simple.

And there you have it, an extremely talented album in that it's wildly successful at reflection and progression instead of choosing one path and stubbornly spurning the other, as so many bands lose fans doing. Four isn't perfect, and may lose some of its lustre as the shock value of its ferocity wears off, but after a few listens this fan says it definitely gives Silent Alarm a run for its money, and will most assuredly return Bloc Party from fast fading footnote to their rightful place as one of rock's most interesting and evolving bands.