@Lucyrosemusic at Coalition, Brighton
A Welcome Return
Seeing as it’s been a while since I posted on this blog, I thought it would be apt to focus on a band who have been away for a considerable time longer.
Sweeping the indie scene with their debut album ‘Silent Alarm’ released in 2005, they became one of the leading lights in the wave of guitar bands that came through in the early 2000’s. Two years later, they released ‘A Weekend in the City’ with ’Intimacy’ quickly following.
Then came a four year hiatus.
Finally - BLOC PARTY ARE BACK! With new album ‘Four’. It is simply a brilliant indie-rock record, almost completely faultless. I would argue that this is their most solid effort, even surpassing ‘Silent Alarm’ as a complete package. For me the sign of a truly great album is that you can put it on and every song is immersing, to the point that it captivates you for the full play. There is not a single track I would skip.
Admittedly, if you are not a Bloc Party fan you may not be quite as biased as I. Saying that, I didn’t own ‘Silent Alarm’ until I had already bought ‘A Weekend in the City’, being a bit of a skeptic when it came to their earlier works (now I’m fully converted).
Stand out tracks for me are:
- 3x3
- Real Talk - (including Kele’s little aside at the end regarding breasts)
- Kettling
- We Are Not Good People
WANGP even includes some heavy riffing that even the Foo Fighters would be proud of.
This is certainly a triumphant return for one of the bands that were around when I was still forming my musical tastes and have been a heavy influence on them since. It is pleasing to see them produce such a strong record that acknowledges their past, whilst also treading new ground. The music scene is brighter for having them back.
New track from Crystal Castles has been released via their Soundcloud as they hope to spread the ‘Plague’.
Perhaps not as instant as some of their tracks can be, but still well constructed and decent Crystal Castles fare.
Erika Spring
Erika of Au Revoir Simone has got a new solo EP out, which sounds great. It was also given 7.2 by Pitchfork so you know it must be awesome.
The track above is called ‘Hidden’, as you can see from the YouTube video. I just found this on Hype Machine and had to share it.
An excellent piece of Dream-pop!
As soon as I write an article featuring the excellent Chew Lips, they decide to release a new track to help me write a little bit more!
Here is the new single ‘Hurricane’ to be released on 3rd September. A superb slice of upbeat pop, definitely helping to combat this horrendous summer rain…
Check it out!
Metric - Synthetica
I saw Metric last week at Shepherds Bush O2 and they were awesome. They played a mixture of old and new. The majority of the crowd (or at least those around me) seemed to have joined ‘Team Metric’ after their 2010 break-out release ‘Fantasies’. I have been listening to them since about 2005, when they released their second album (proper) ‘Live it Out’, with classic tracks that hooked me in, like ‘Monster Hospital’. Lucky enough for me they played a great mixture of both in their set pleasing the sell out crowd.
A highlight being the closer ‘Gimme Sympathy’ which was played acoustically as Emily Haines asked the crowd rhetorical questions about what would happen in the next 10 years, before encouraging the crowd to sing back the chorus, which they did loudly and for a sustained period of time. It was a great way to end a cracking set.
The support act ‘Chew Lips’ are also worth a mention, with their electronic pop stylings sounding very fresh. They played an impressive set consisting of a lot of new material which received a very warm response from the crowd. Definitely ones to check out if you haven’t already.
Listen to both Metric & Chew Lips below…
