Bloc Party are a British art rock/post-punk band. The band has been around in various guises since 2002, with names like The Angel Range, Diet and Union, before settling on Bloc Party in September 2003. The name is a play on block party, a name for a quasi-informal neighborhood festival, which might hire a local band as entertainment. The name was not intended to be an allusion to the Soviet Bloc; the absence of a 'k' is purely for aesthetics.
Band members Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack, who both grew up in Essex, have formed the fulcrum of these various incarnations, and were subsequently joined by bassist Gordon Moakes, and most recently drummer Matt Tong. Lissack and singer/guitarist Kele Okereke met in 1998 in Essex, where Lissack had grown up and Okereke attended school. Lissack attended Bancroft's School and Okereke attended Trinity for sixth form. They bumped into each other again in 1999 at the Reading Festival and soon after formed the band Union. In 2003 they changed from Union to Bloc Party just before releasing their debut single She's Hearing Voices on the then fledgling record label Trash Aesthetics.
The band got their break after Okereke went to a Franz Ferdinand concert in 2003, and was able to thrust a copy of the single into the hands of both Franz lead singer Alex Kapranos and Radio One DJ Steve Lamacq. Lamacq subsequently played the song on his radio show, labeling the track "genius", and invited them to record a live session for the show.
The buzz generated off the back of the Trash Aesthetics single sparked some A&R interest, leading to another single Banquet, this time released by the label Moshi Moshi, and to the eventual signing with indie label Wichita Records in April 2004.
Their spiky, intelligent and passionate guitar rock draws on influences such as Sonic Youth, Pixies, Joy Division, Gang of Four and The Cure.
Their critically acclaimed debut album, Silent Alarm, released in February 2005 and recently voted by NME critics as the 2005 album of the year, went to #3 on UK album charts, with the single "So Here We Are" making the top 5. Further singles "Banquet", "Helicopter" and "The Pioneers" (July 2005), whilst failing to repeat this success, managed to make dents in the UK top 20. The animated video for the single The Pioneers was number one in the NME video charts for 4 weeks and was made for a tiny budget in 4 weeks by the Shoreditch based Mini Vegas design agency.
Bloc Party’s Kele and Russell onstage in Cardiff, UK, in October 2005Even though the band was met with good reviews from critics in America, Bloc Party failed to break through to the Pop or Rock charts in the US, largely remaining an underground phenomenon.
Bloc Party became one of the most popular new bands of 2005, and established electronic group The Chemical Brothers soon collaborated with Okereke for a track on the Brothers' Push the Button album.
An album of remixes of tracks from Silent Alarm was released at the end of August in the UK. Whilst retaining the album's original tracklist, it includes remixes from the likes of Ladytron, M83, Death From Above 1979, Four Tet and Mogwai.
The band revealed that they have around 25 songs already written for their second album, which they aim to release sometime in early 2006. During July, they recorded two new tracks [titles were given of "Hero" and "Two More Years"] with Silent Alarm-producer Paul Epworth. The latter, "Two More Years" was released to co-incide with their October 2005 UK tour on On October 3rd. The single ended up on a re-release of Silent Alarm, along with Little Thoughts. Several other new tracks have also been debuted during their non-stop touring schedule.
In more humorous circles, British tabloid newspaper The Sun reported that the band would be teaming up with Kaiser Chiefs for a Christmas single. The article reported it would be a cover of "All I Want for Christmas Is You". There has been no official confirmation of this.
The band also recently contributed the track "The Present" to the "Help: A Day In The Life" compilation, the profits of which benefits the War Child charity.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloc_Party |
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