Bloc Party

About Bloc Party

The kids are tense in London town. Youthful quartet Bloc Party are cranking out tight tracks of danceable, paranoid post-punk that will get you grooving in your bomb shelter. The band caught the attention of fellow dance-rockers Franz Ferdinand after singer Kele Okereke slipped demo tapes to FF's Alex Kapranos in 2003. Kele also hooked up influential Radio One DJ Steve Lamacq, who was hugely impressed and began promoting the band out of obscurity. They've got a similar sound to Franz Ferdinand, but they're rough where FF are slick and Bloc Party are more likely to sing about fighting the establishment than girl trouble. Russell Lissack's effects-drenched, shredded guitar lines cling desperately to Matt Tong's staggering disco beats, and the photogenic frontman Okereke can take his voice from a trembling whisper to a spastic snarl, really biting into the fractured lyrics. Their debut full-length, Silent Alarm, was a critical triumph and, heralded by the British press, brought them house-hold name recognition back home. In the US, it was a college radio smash, but failed to break into the mainstream. Still, the singles "Helicopter" and "Banquet" earned the band limited MTV radio play. Between original material, they released Silent Alarm Remixed, an interesting collection of mix-ups from fellow scenesters like Mogwai, Death From Above 1979 and Ladytron. They've also released an EP and collaborated with boozy brit-rockers The Kaiser Chiefs. Despite only moderate album sales, Bloc Party's US concerts are sold out affairs and they've cultivated a reputation for high energy. They've appeared on numerous hit video game soundtracks including Marc Ecko's Getting Up, Project Gotham Racing, Burnout Revenge and Fifa '06. Bloc Party are currently putting the finishing tweaks on their upcoming second LP, titled A Weekend In the City.