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This Issue 02/08/2007

Also in this issue

• Penne: Hers
• The Safes
• In my defense...
• Sex Column
• Ghostly bad

A successful debut LP can be a blessing or a curse. It can be the precursor of legitimate greatness or it can spell doom for a band's future with the weight of unachievable expectations (think of the wasted potential of The Libertines or The Stills). The real pressure for these groups lies on their second album, where they have so much more to lose.
Bloc Party fans everywhere had been crossing off days on their calendars in anticipation of February 6th, the release date of the band's second studio album, A Weekend In The City. The sophomore attempt creates a darker and more processed ambience compared to their critically acclaimed debut LP, Silent Alarm. Weekend picks up where the second half of Alarm left off, with gradually building songs that shift from calm, retrospective ballads to frenetically paced melodic spirals. Herein, though, lies Weekend's problem.
Where Alarm was innovative in form and feel, Weekend corners itself creatively at times, leaving the end of the album exposed to a repetitive feel.
In many songs, the sound of the instruments seems to revolve solely around Kele Okereke's lyrical mood swings, which in turn limits variation. Meanwhile, drummer Matt Tong's intricate rhythms from Alarm are lost to standardization. The initial excitement of Weekend loses its appeal by the end of Saturday night.
Despite having tied its hands together creatively, A Weekend In The City still has many bright points. "Hunting for Witches" possesses all the swirling, neck-traveling riffs of Bloc Party's early hit "Helicopter", while being lyrically provocative - translating feelings of displacement and apathy towards a chic, Vichy-like London. "On" also possesses brilliance with Okereke's confessional proclamation, "You make my tongue loose." Songs like these reaffirm a very promising future for Bloc Party.