Kele’s awful lyrics and half-arsed melodies.
The disco drums sounding like it’s 2000 again.
The verse riff which sounds like something I could imagine a university band building a song around.
The incredibly forgettable chorus devoid of hooks.
I agree though, it’s impressive that they’ve managed to make a sub-3-minute song sound plodding.
I’m not meaning to be a dick, by the way, I think Bloc Party at their peak (debut) were incredible, and agree that Four is underrated. Just finding this song does not get me excited for anything new whatsoever.
Well ok I guess we fundamentally disagree on what plodding is. Can’t stand up for Kele’s lyrics but then I’d take nonsense (and slurping) over some of his more earnest efforts.
The verse actually reminded me of the bits of Four I don’t like.
Feels very self consciously like a band who released an album no one cared about about a couple of years ago #GoingBack2TheirRoots.
I just don’t feel much from it - partially the annoying vocals, partially the make them up as we go along lyrics, partially the retreadiness of it all.
Last year I downloaded that bootleg of all the demos (recorded to quite high quality whatever lossy format I got it in) that didn’t make Weekend in the City. They were all better than this.
Edit to say: wish they’d officially release all that stuff. Likewise look at their B-sides and singles on Spotify, most of which aren’t up there.
I think it’s about as good as you can expect from the ol’ Bloc in 2021. Lyrics are terrible and I wish they were delivered in a more appealing way. Verse riff is pretty plain. Like Foals, they’re a band that should’ve never got their hands on distortion pedals. But I like the energy. Looking forward to hearing the rest. As a hopelessly devoted listener I will give this album more time than it maybe deserves.
Amazing the career Bloc Party have had after making like four good songs, most of which appeared on EPs before their debut came out. And Kele was always an appalling lyricist. To me, they’re a somewhat promising band who never fulfilled their potential, but they’re treated like a band with a classic debut who might recapture that magic. There’s nothing to recapture.
I enjoyed Four musically but just wished they had a different singer/lyricist and I feel the same about this. Unfortunately Kele is the weakest part of the band.
Still find it really weird that they did the whole fake “we’re looking for a new frontman… j/k!!! Bloc Party will always be the four of us” thing just before announcing Four, and then a few years later half the band had quit and been replaced with stringers
New track is actually pretty decent, not a huge fan of the verses but like how it goes into the chorus.
Let’s face it, they will never recapture what they had - especially as only half of the original band and some of the really terrible shit they have put out to fight against. I think if this is the energy and tone of what the album is going to be I will deffo give it a listen and expect there will be 3/4 pretty good tunes on there.