Bloc Party: C/D?

"cain said to abel" is prob my fav bloc party song and i have no idea why it's a b-side, lots of miscalculation in this band's post-silent alarm career

Matt Tong was always Bloc Party's mvp. Now he plays with Algiers, so he knows what's up.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 12 October 2015 19:00 (2 days ago) Permalink

Completely agree re: Matt's drumming, and was wondering where he'd show up. Thanks for that.

Yeah, Tong's drumming was one of the main reasons I became so enthusiastic about this band circa Silent Alarm. I recall hearing 'So Here We Are' for the first time, and thought that it was wonderful how the intro suggested that the track was going to be a certain way rhythmically, and then the drums kicked in and immediately changed the vibe of the whole track. I haven't listened to 'So Here We Are' for a long while, but just thinking about it, and then comparing it to that new track posted above, the gulf in quality between the two is beyond vast.

Completely agree re: Matt's drumming, and was wondering where he'd show up. Thanks for that.

the algiers album came out this year and is extremely good fyi

Matt doesn't drum on the album I think: he plays live with them. Assume he'll be on the next record.

When I saw BP on the Silent Alarm tour his drumming was the highlight. Just nuts.

xp yeah, he joined after the album. Should be fun to see them live going forward, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox68svCfm8k

If you thought The Love Within was bad, just wait until you hear this heap of dogshit.

Intro reminded me of Daft Punk's Instant Crush without all the good parts and then devolved into generic rubbish. What the heck happened to these guys? I was really pumped on their debut. Do they need more drugs or do they need to quit them or something?

What happened is their rhythm section bailed out and now Kele is making Russell stay and play guitar on his terrible new songs.

Jesus fucking christ, this new album is beyond terrible... fucking hell!

'Fortress' may just be one of Kele's most cringeworthy set of lyrics to date...

These sheets of ours shield our bodies like a fortress
They keep us safe from harm
Intertwined, our bodies lay there like a comma
The arch of your back invites desire
We put our bodies to the test
Follow the curve right down your neck
Your sweet, my sweat stuck in a web
And in the mirror, you relent
It's teasing me with every step
Reach down and feel how strong my love grows just for you

Pull me under, under the ocean
Cover my mouth with yours
Put it on me like no one's watching
Like it's the first time
And on the street, our bodies ache for one another
I just can't wait 'til we're alone, mmm mmm

And I'm a fool for the sight of all the gold between your thights
You still the sea that's stirring deep in me
Make your base right here, next to me
As our notes blend in harmony
And when we sex, we hear the beat
And it's so serene

Pull me under, under the ocean
Cover my mouth with yours
Put it on me like no one's watching
Like it's the first time
And if you're hungry, devour your morsel
Cover my mouth with yours
Put it one me like no one's watching
Like it's the first time
Pull me under, under the ocean
Cover my mouth with yours
Put it on me like no one's watching
Like it's the first time we kissed

^ Farking hell!

*thights=thighs.

Shit, he's used a "fungi"/"fun guy" pun in another song. No, really!

This fennel tea that you bought for me
Well, it does its magic discretely
I wrote this song for you, it's true
In our only south facing room
See, I don't know what the future holds
But I hope we face it together
Cause rock and roll has got so old
Just give me neo-soul

[Chorus]
Into the earth, our bodies will go
We got to keep it all fluid
Into the earth, our bodies will go
You're gonna keep me good-looking

[Verse 2]
You've seen the colour of my cash
Does it not impress? Was I way too flash?
Are you backing away
From me?
Calm down, Yoshi, the fungi
Is helping this fun-guy deliver
When I get high, I dance all night
I'll sing you Al Green songs
I'm just trying to gently blur the lines
With my trusty sensimilia
Don't be so jaded or so coy
When you could just be familiar

Shirtless and faded on the Champs-Élysées
The world was ours then
I had conviction, but you, you had style
Such a lethal combination
The years changed us, the money weighed us down
We lost our way
Let me spoil you, pick a place to go
I want to spend my money on you

And don't you remember
How this began?
You begged me for a chance
Don't waste your sorry
No, don't waste your goodbyes
Tonight
From hand to mouth and now
We're living lux

I order the lobster, and you, the Moët
The waitress thinks that we can't pay, no
What does she know? Our pockets are full-grown
And we've earned the right to fine dine
So raise your glass, my old friend
For we both know that this is the end
For the times we fought and the times we shared
I'll sing you a song the way I used to then

Don't you remember
How this began?
You begged me for a chance
Don't waste your sorry
No, don't waste your goodbyes
Tonight
From hand to mouth and now
We're living lux
We're living lux

............

ok i wasn't even going to listen to this but y'all convinced me

:D

it sucks bc at least half of four is great imo

In terms of the sheer gulf between aspiration and achivement he is probably the single worst British lyricist of the last decade, and that's really saying something.

OK I'm listening to the whole thing now, skipping the first song which we all already know is dogshit.

Why. Does. He. Feel. The. Need. To. Stop. Bet. Ween. Eve. Ry. Syll. A. Ble. He. Sings?

It was bad enough when he stole an unreleased Richey Manic line for 'Where Is Home?' ("I want to cut off the feet off every ballerina") or the "eat your cancer" line from 'Heart Shaped Box'... on this one, he steals/rearranges the "we take the pills to find each other" line from Suede's 'New Generation'

I'm on track three and it's like this is supposed to be some sort of Jamie Woon-James Blake coffee table dubsoul thing, but he doesn't have voice of the former and the even rudimentary production skills of the latter.

Fourth track is the sort of clumpy midpaced twangy rocker that you expect from bands with no ideas left.

Every day is a repeat
Like a carrier bag stuck in a tree
I used to find my answers
In the gospels of St. John
But now I find them at the bottom
Of this shot glass

"so real" is ok

"the good news" is like who invited this band to become black rebel motorcycle club

The music to Fortress is even worse than the lyrics, unsurprising limp dick James Blake sex-ballad.

Also Kele Okerere is a man in his mid-30s using 'sex' as a verb.

wow i could be listening to the entire years & years album instead of "fortress"

Different Drugs is actually... pretty good, in that I've not found myself immediately compelled to turn it off. Would be way better with Katy or Jessie singing it obviously, and sometimes you really do need to ditch the drummer. I like the bit where he sings "do you still think of me fondly?" like he's addressing some maiden aunt he never really sees.

"different drugs" IS good. would've fit on a weekend in the city

Into The Earth reminds me of something, wacky 1999-ish West Coast types in Hawaiian shirts/too baggy trousers/stupid thick ties. Or maybe just the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

jeez it's kinda stunning how much "different drugs" towers over everything else i've heard on this record

i think i'd have preferred it if this record were entirely bad tbh

didn't need a brief glimpse of kele's few remaining good sensibilities

Shitting hell quoting Robyn S like that is just indefensible.

This sounds like the kind of record a band releases before they finally admit the game is up and piss off.

I order the lobster, and you, the Moët
The waitress thinks that we can't pay, no
What does she know? Our pockets are full-grown
And we've earned the right to fine dine

The rhyme of Moet with pay is worthy of Rakim in his prime.

The music got too shit for me to possibly carry on but I cannot imagine any record company agreeing to release that if it hadn't come from a band who have already sold however many million albums.

Yup, totally agree. This is quite comfortably the worst new album I've heard so far this year, actually... I know we're only a couple of months in, but still!

i always thought BP the band were better than kele on the whole. but these lyrics really make me want to listen to the new one.

New single played on 6music as we drove to work. As it finished Em said simply "That was shit. What happened to them?"

this might all explain is why kele looks so unhappy/pissed off in all their recent publicity shots.

He is also now absolutely MASSIVE, like he's been pumping steroids and sacks of satsumas straight into his muscles. I'm always slightly suspicious of people who bulk up like that.

he sounded like hes been having a bit of an ongoing personal/identity crisis in that NME interview, which might be related to his new beefiness.

i think different drugs is meant to be his unfinished symphony, the phrasing is very similar to shara nelson.

fortress is good actually. prob his best, most tender singing on this album from what ive heard so far (im not really listening to the lyrics, which might help). its a tiny bit like fka twigs' closer. is his solo stuff like this? i think i might like it more than the BP album if so.

the other guy from the original line up has gone kind beefy as well, he used to be a super-scrawny pencil neck indie kid

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b3gDjVR8bTc/UPkLaq983RI/AAAAAAAAFu8/NfSF2KFBEjg/s400/2+Bloc+straight+cream.jpg

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/news/59763/a6d59e64.jpg

(he's the one on the far right in both pictures)

wait, second from the right in the first picture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcEsqSr0jG0

Oh ffs what even is this band anymore

A band that's completely over, yet they still keep on going...

Any thoughts on Kele's _Fatherland_? Has a real nice streak from tracks 6-10 (less 7). "Yemaya", track 6, has a Shack musical vibe that I love, but it's also very much the album's highpoint for me, though the track with Corinne Bailey Rae (# 8, "Versions of Us") is lovely.

there you go-go
looking like a snack
cute like bambi
meet me in the boom boom room