Bloc Party
"Silent Alarm"
Vice Records

Not since Franz Ferdinand released their debut album has there been so much buzz about a debut album. Case in point, I found this on Craigslist:
How much do I want to see bloc party? A lot. Am I willing to pay $100? Probably not. But fellas, isn't there some other form of currency you'd be interested in? I'm a VERY open minded girl. Make me an offer, it's highly unlikely that I'll turn you down.

That’s right. Someone is willing to whore themselves to see this gang of English dudes who just released their debut. This all begs the question, is the CD really that good? Well, I’m not willing to go down on a dude just to go to their concert, but I’m not gay, so I wouldn’t do that to see any concert. I’ve heard it described as “dance-punk” and as much as I don’t like that label, I can’t think of one that works better…I’ll stick with it. What makes dance punk? I don’t know, but I think it has to do with pretty funky kick ass bass lines, which Bloc Party definitely has. It’s got a bit of the 80’s new wave feel that the kids are grooving to these days. The problem with this album is that it sounds like it was released in 2004/2005. The only problem is that in 5 years, people who never even heard of Bloc Party will be able to know when it came out just by listening to it. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The

Offspring’s Smash sounds like it came out in 1994, but it is still a kick ass record (trust me, go back and listen to it again). Do you like Franz Ferdinand, The Stills, and The (International) Noise Conspiracy? If you said yes, then you’ll really like Bloc Party. If you’ve got some money burning a hole in your pocket, you should get off your but (or turn off your blackberry) and go to the store and buy this. Simply put, it sounds pretty great. And really, what else do you want from an album??? By the way, here’s a link to the Craigslist listing, just in case anyone has an extra Bloc Party ticket.

Reviewed by: Josh Goldfarb
Reviewed on: March 27, 2005