I am sure that most people who like or have liked Bloc Party have purchased and or made a decision regarding their sophomore release “A Weekend in the City.” Regardless, I have decided to write a review, because quite honestly, I love the opening track so much right now that I feel I must.
“Song For Clay (Disapear Here)” left a bad impression with me initially. I’m not a big fan of a quiet intro for quiet intro’s sakes, but quite honestly, the payoff here is worth it. Hitting with what I can only call a whirlwind of guitars, when this song hits, it hits for real. Its dark and smart, and the chorus is a maelstrom of awesome. The low, haunting background vocals are amazing, adding a layer of chanting under an already interesting composition.
Unfortunately, after such an amazing opener, “Hunting for Witches” doesn’t live up. The song is amazing, except the chorus sounds hoaky with Kele Okereke singing “So I go hunting for witches. I’m hunting for witches.” It just sounds sort of silly, in my opinion. “Waiting for the 7:18” proceeds downward, sounding more like filler.
“The Prayer” is one of the albums singles, and was heavily featured in the Bloc Party vcast that I subscribed to. I love the way it starts, more of the chanting background vocals, and an awesome tribal beat. This song really kicks ass for a while.The chorus, with the heroic sounding “Tonight make me unstoppable” is awesome the first time, but its too well-crafted, and the song lacks the urgency of the opener. After the second or third time, the chorus really looses its impact.
Following is “Uniform” which starts out really slow, but with 2 minutes to go gets amazing, with a frantic uptempo beat leading into one of those awesome three chord rock parts that Bloc Party is known for. “On” is a good song, but the following “Where is Home” is another amazing rocker, with the falsetto chorus and steam-train drumbeat. “Kreuzberg” feels like filler to me.
The album starts to wrap with “I still remember, ” with it’s memorable chorus, and an awesome guitar/synth hook. “Sunday” and “SRXT” close the record with little fan-fare.
All in all, this record is pretty awesome. There are some very clever things going on, and at times I think the cleverness gets the better of the band, but I will definitely give this my recommendation.
Brian