Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

Genre alt-country Publisher Vice Records External Links Official Website Vice Records

You've read about them in publications across the globe. Every music rag has written about them, and mainstream American media cornerstones like Newsweek and The Washington Post have chimed in on their music. They've been called the hottest band of 2005 by many of those publications, and now your web-based musical authority is here to corroborate that sentiment. This summer will be drenched in the music of a band called Bloc Party.

Over the past several years, the band has leapt to the limelight in their English homeland, and in the coming months they'll blaze a trail through the European Union. As more American media outlets feature the band, awareness stateside will increase as well. (It's really only a matter of time before we'll hear the album's opening cut "Like Eating Glass" on a Honda Element commercial; "Banquet" has already appeared on an episode of The O.C. But unless you caught them on their stint through portions of the United States earlier this spring, you'll have to wait until June to catch them live. (And they're only playing a handful of dates: www.blocparty.com). If you're not fortunate enough to live in one of those cities, beloved American readers, you'll have to get your Bloc Party fix in recorded format. Lucky for you, the hooks on Silent Alarm take a long time to grow old ï so far, I've gone for the bait every time.

Silent Alarm is the debut album from Bloc Party, a four-member band from London that formed around the turn of the century. The foursome, composed of Kele Okereke (vocals & guitar), Gordon Moakes (bass), Russell Lissack (guitar) and Matt Tong (drums), acknowledges being shaped by pop culture throughout their young lives and contends that their music strives to be less self-referential than their peers', while paying homage to influential artists working in a variety of media.

If you've read the slightest description of Bloc Party's music, you've heard the phrase British post-punk tossed around and have seen them likened to Joy Division, Gang of Four and early Cure. They've also been lumped in with present day '80s throwbacks like Interpol and The Futureheads. If you take a cross section of these descriptions and cut it with hundreds of other influences, musical and otherwise, you'll have reduced Bloc Party to its essence. Best of luck doing that.

As the band says of itself, its music is an outpouring of decades-worth of pop culture absorption. Within Bloc Party songs you'll hear the desperation of Joy Division, the frustration of Gang of Four and the isolation of The Cure. Likewise, the band probably fits under whatever definition you're using for British post-punk these days. Slivers of The Clash's rebellious spirit and David Bowie's mysterious nature are in there as well.

In the end, a fresh sound grows from the combination of Bloc Party's many influences and their natural sensibilities. From Lissack's panicked guitar on songs like "Helicopter" to Okereke parting the air with cotton-y vocals on "Blue Light" Bloc Party establishes its obsession with moving beyond what they already know ï and what listeners are used to.

A lot of us haven't had our fill of the '80s revival yet. Will we ever? (Yes. When the late '80s hop into the mainstream I refuse to peg my pants, which I shamelessly did through '94.) Right now, we're looking for bands that move beyond '80s pop culture and highlight '80s sub-culture. So far, Bloc Party has done that the best.

Without a doubt, Silent Alarm will be on Top Ten album lists at the end of this year. For now, they'll work their way into the hearts of listeners with their thematic blend of politics, romanticism, revolution and personal understanding.

Listen closely. The alarm is sounding.