UK outfit Bloc Party (@blocparty) have quite the chartered history behind them. As one of the more dynamic acts that emerged during the post-punk revival of the mid 2000′s, they we’re expected to achieve great things. After a hugely underrated, and often overlooked, sophomore album, luke warm third outing and subsequent four year break, however, they seemed to be on the brink of quitting. Their career thus far has been somewhat hit and miss, making the slightly patchy and blotted nature of Four relatively fitting.
Listening to Four, Bloc Party’s personal issues and lack of band harmony still seem to be plaguing their creative outlook. After being completely uninspired by the first single “Octopus”, I went into this record with some serious doubt — following several complete listens, I’m still left with a mixed bag of feelings. The album kicks off with an impassioned opener, “So He Begins to Lie”, a gruff, muscular track that uses a fleshed-out, mid-tempo rhythm and ending crescendo to bring you fully on board. “3×3″ keeps the momentum pushing whilst adding a darker tone to Bloc Party’s quasi math rock noodling. Kele’s effected vocals actually add an eerie vibe to the proceedings, something that I would have loved to hear them tap into more.
So far, so good, right? Well yeah it is, until the album lands on the previously mentioned single and it’s following track “Real Talk”, two songs which sound incredibly stiff, still and frankly incomplete. These moments of filler, coupled with some iffy lyricism and a chop and change attitude towards tone and style, really highlight Four as project ripe with confusion.
Despite these challenges, there are also some truly beaming moments of hope and enthusiasm scattered across the record. Closer, “We Are Not Good People”, and “Kettling” burst out of the album’s seams as raw glimpses of what Bloc Party once where and could be again someday. “Day Four”, though, a slower, more layered track that add’s depth, emotion and presence to the record, is what really keeps my beacon of hope burning. Somewhat reminiscent of the material featured on A Weekend In The City, it shows that despite their problems, Bloc Party still have the potential to make beautiful music.
Four is by no means a bad return for the band, but there’s simply no escaping that the record has its fair share of problems. The energy, the depth and the dynamics are still there — they’ve just pulled away from one another over time.
