Tag Archives: bloc party

#755: Bloc Party – Little Thoughts

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‘Little Thoughts’ by Bloc Party was released as a split single with fellow track ‘Tulips’ in July 2004, about half a year before debut album Silent Alarm. The song is very similar in style to the songs that eventually made it onto that album – characterised by a fast tempo, interesting guitar lines by both Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack, and the frantic drumming by former member Matt Tong – but it didn’t make the cut on initial releases of the album, though did appear on re-releases and editions released in the United States.

I didn’t know about this song’s existence until way after Silent Alarm‘s release. ‘Helicopter’ was the first song of theirs that I’d heard/saw and, for a young black nine year old as I was at that time, it was cool seeing a fellow black person being the frontman of an indie band. It was very rare at that time. I wasn’t seeking out albums to listen to at that age and everything I did hear was mainly through the television; whenever a Bloc Party video showed, the music within was usually great and that was more or less how I felt seeing the video for ‘Little Thoughts’. It’s a simple band performance in front of a green screen, but sometimes those are the best kinds of visuals.

Again, like many other songs I discovered at that age, I don’t know much about its subject matter. In the time of writing this, I’ve found one interpretation that the narrator is in love with someone who is of a younger age and wishes that they could go back in time so there would be less of a gap. That sounds fair. Whatever it’s about, it sounds good. And a bit sad, simultaneously.

#583: Bloc Party – I Still Remember

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‘I Still Remember’ is the ninth track on Bloc Party’s second album A Weekend in the City, released in 2007, and was the LP’s second single. The album was the first one of theirs I ever got, for Christmas 2007 or my 13th birthday either one of the two, and was the special edition that included ‘Flux‘ in the tracklisting. I liked the song upon seeing its video on MTV2 UK for the first time, and my opinion on it hasn’t really changed – still sounds good now as it did back then. Crazy that it’s been eleven years, really.

Listening to this track now takes me back to about ten years ago when I was just about getting into first year of secondary school. Or at least nearing the end of it. Mainly because it was during those times that the music video for it was shown on TV quite frequently. Back then YouTube was still a baby in terms of being a company, and if a band released the video for their new song – you would actually have to wait and see it instead of having it ready at your fingertips.

The track has lead singer Kele Okereke reminiscing about good times and missed opportunities from his school days. Anyone who is a big fan of the guy and has looked on his Wikipedia page can find that he went to Ilford County High School. No lies, that’s the same secondary school I went to. Of course it was at different times, although I’ve always had the feeling that the person he’s singing about would have been someone he was friends with when he went there. Not just because it’s an all boys school, but because, if you watch the video closely you’ll notice that the train number all the action takes place in is ‘247’. A bus route with the same number runs through Barkingside High Street, which is pretty much right next to the school.

Though that’s just my theory. It’s probably a bit of a personal song for him so we’ll let it lie.

My iPod #555: Bloc Party – Hunting for Witches

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Kele Okereke was interested in the media reaction to the 9/11 and London 7/7 terrorist attacks. The lead singer of Bloc Party felt that the media had earned their trade through scaremongering and using fear to control people. His observations aided him to create “Hunting for Witches”, the second track on the band’s sophomore effort A Weekend in the City, released in 2007.

The violent ringing at the end of “Song for Clay (Disappear Here)” fades right into “Hunting for Witches”, but it is almost a minute into the latter that you hear Kele’s voice. The introduction starts with chopped-up radio samples that scatter around your ears before being overlapped by a panning alien-spaceship sounding guitar riff, the drums of Matt Tong, and finally the song’s spindly guitar riff delivered by Russell Lissack with dagger-sharp execution. The track reminds me a bit of “Helicopter” due to the interplay of guitars, particularly during the instrumental break before the final chorus, and the busy rhythm section, but with more of a processed sound and a fuller vocal performance from Okereke.

Released as the album’s third single, the song received a music video which features the band performing the track in a dark room. There it is above all of this. It probably would have been the last single too, had it not been for “Flux” which arrived a few months later.

My iPod #509: Bloc Party – Helicopter

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Ahhh. The very first song by Bloc Party I ever heard; I can vaguely remember watching its music video on MTV2 for the first time. Was around 2004 if I recall correctly. And even then I thought it was unusual seeing a multi-racial indie rock band. Especially one that was fronted by a black man. Being a black boy myself, I thought it was cool. Brought something new to the table. I can’t believe that it has been more than ten years that I’ve known the track.

“Helicopter”, named so (apparently) because of its rapid tempo, the intertwining guitar lines in the introduction and the spitfire rhythm section provided by former members Gordon Moakes and Matt Tong (who will be sorely missed by fans everywhere), is the second track on the band’s stellar debut album Silent Alarm. No one knows what it’s really about. Okereke said it is about himself; though there are many reasons why people think it is about George W. Bush. Looking at the lyrics you can easily see why the interpretation rose.

For me, the song brings a lot of nostalgia. Playing FIFA 06 on the weekends at the age of 10-11 were good times. Plus, it is hauntingly infectious. It is a crazy song with sudden stops and starts, string bends and relentless instrumentation that never seems to end. Well, apart from those aforementioned pauses. A song within the hearts and minds of many a Bloc Party listener.

My iPod #376: Bloc Party – Flux

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Bloc Party’s second album “A Weekend in the City” had been released and available to the public for almost a year when the group then decided to unveil the brand new standalone single “Flux”. It was one out of a bunch of others the band recorded after its set at the Reading and Leeds Festival. The song got so much love and success (reached number eight in the UK chart) that the band decided to release “A Weekend” again the following year, this time with “Flux” included as well as a bonus DVD showing the band’s performance at Reading. That’s the version I own. And I’m glad too. The album feels incomplete without the track, even if it wasn’t supposed to be on there in the first place.

If the album itself wasn’t a sign of Bloc Party’s increasing interest in dance music, then “Flux” certainly flaunted it. With a head bopping 4-4 beat with erratic high hats and electronic blips, the song features an auto-tuned Kele Okereke sings about a relationship going wrong, coming to a conclusion that the two involved must talk about their problems but for now they are in a state of uncertainty. Or flux, to simply put it.

Being about uncertainty in a relationship, it only made sense that the track was to be placed after the sentimental “I Still Remember”. Listening to these two tracks together equals a good time.