Bloc Party – A Weekend in the City (2007)

Mid-00's was a time for post-punk revival. Interpol, Editors, White Lies, Franz Ferdinand and countless other bands gained fame around the world. My personal favourite from that era is Bloc Party founded in London. The first two albums are amazing. There's something very urban about the sounds on these albums. Also, the sounds are a lot more complex than those of other bands that I mentioned. Kyle Okereke's London accent is one of the reasons I really like this band. I'm also enjoying the lyrics that refer to familiar places in London. I guess I partly enjoyed this album so much is that it came out right at the right moment. I owned the first album and I listened to it a lot. I only have this album on a jewel case CD, which is a bit of a shame, because I really like the dark and urban photo of a freeway in the cover and it would look so much better on a vinyl record.



I have seen almost all of my favourite bands that are still active live, but I haven't seen Bloc Party. I would've had a couple of chances to see them while I've been living here in London, but I just feel like it's been too late to see them. Unfortunately the band's third album was a huge disappointment to me. I really didn't like the sounds, nor the songwriting on that album. This was a clear sign that this band's prime was over. It was further confirmed by their even worse fourth album.

The album starts beautifully with a dark song Song for Clay (Disappear Here). I listened to this album quite a lot when I had moved to East London in Bethnal Green and I enjoyed the mention of the area in the lyrics. The album is not just a collection of the usual pounding post-punk revival songs. It also has some amazing ballads and light songs. Kreuzberg has those similar kinds of chiming guitars as This Modern Love, my favourite song on the first album. The ending song SRXT is one of the most amazing songs of the 00's. It starts out really quiet and beautiful and it rises to massive guitar walls that remind me of another musical genre of the time, post-rock. The ending's amazing electric guitars rival those of bands like Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky.

One of the best songs on this album is the hit song I Still Remember. It has a great music video of a train ride through London. The song has a great melody and the drama between the verses and the chorus is quite amazing. The backing vocals are also really remarkable. Watching this music video now makes me really regret that I didn't see this band live in their prime.

This album has the distinctive 00's sound, but it still sounds fresh even today and I feel like it has that timeless quality that whenever I will return to this album it will jus sound good. This might be because of amazing production on the album. Unlike many other bands of the era, Bloc Party really knows how to tone down every once in a while so that the louder parts feel so much more powerful. Also, personally, I think that this album will always remind me of my university years and also the time a few years later when I moved to East London.

Listen to the album on Spotify.