review

Bloc Party, Silent Alarm

A touch of irony, perhaps. Bands are too aware now of their need to be marketed. But Bloc Party's gimmick is to have no gimmick. They make a Statement of not having a statement. 'To play instruments at the same time.' 'Talking up your limitations.'' 'Letting ideas stand for themselves.'' Risky. Shades of Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Their blast-off: incessant radio play, top five single, waves of hype or hope cresting over a national tour slot, the next next big thing. And their fall from orbit. 'This time it's music.'' Is it?

It seems so. Silent Alarm is brilliant. Their sound is full-grown, bones and joints secure and fleshed and flexible. They play sharply and urgently, as if the police are at the door. Off-kilter propulsive rhythms press uncomfortably close, seating you next to the engine. Familiar guitar clangs are pulled towards suicide dives, manic cycling, dissonant textures or bursts of shredding distortion. Queasy tones echo into vapour trails. Only the barest hint of overdubs. Stark and minimal. Not just efficiently, but pointedly, serving bleak and jarring songs. 'Positive Tension' flips end over end: bare funk workout, rattling charge, manic weird-time-freakout, close. 'So Here We Are' revives ambient guitar but contains its sprawl. 'Blue Light' surprises with an optimistic sunbreak.

Emotional breadth? No. Joy is rare and evanescent: as in reality, 'the gentlest feeling' evaporates inside a minute. Mostly they do Thom Yorkean chaotic angst, except better, splintering it into a barrage of attention-deficient slogans. 'Helicopter': 'North to south / Empty / Running on / Bravado / As if to say, as if to say / He doesn't like chocolate / He's born a liar, he'll die a liar / Some things will never be different.' Kele Okereke yelps, Gordon Moakes intones. Neither sing to any extent. Both sound small and isolated, and rightly. No gospel of mad kings and conspiracy. This is personal. Traumas, frailties, inarticulate fears, silent alarm. And relayed raw, excesses and idiocies included, not excised: not polished and validated.

Half of creativity is knowing what to throw away. Bloc Party know this. Silent Alarm jettisons personability, verse-chorus structure, hooks, singalongs, catchiness, sentiment, fun, warmth, comfort, escape. Instead, the here and now. Cold harsh reality. Storm and stress. Risky. I think it works. A tough listen. Perhaps fragmentary. Probably overlong. Inventive. Exciting. Possibly even important. Definitely worthwhile.