hello folks! this week for the weekly review, we’ll be checking out the 2007 release from UK band Bloc Party, A Weekend In the City!
Songs for Clay (Disappear Here) is the opening track, and wow. what a malaise. lyrically, the speaker here is numb through a bunch of different environments. quite enjoy this musically – especially communicates the high-energy environments the speaker is in, and adds some melodrama to what would otherwise be a bit of a bummer, haha. plus, i really like the “East London is a vampire!” sting. Hunting For Witches kicks ass – the slow, glitchy opening into the guitar riff that runs under most of the track, the excellent hook, the way it looks at the War on Terror era and just goes “nah this is fucking fascist witch hunt shit”. big big fan of this song. Waiting For the 7.18 is an incredibly tender reflection on youth – the track gives the vibe of moments that werent important then but mean everything now. really dig The Prayer, about a dancer in club or contest praying for the extra ability to shine. really cool chorus. Uniform is an interesting track that comments on subcultures being reduced to fashion trends, and transitions a bit to focus the critical lens inward on a speaker that clearly was ambitious but feels unfulfilled as they grow older. LOVE the segment that starts “When you gonna realize / these are not your wrongs to right”. On feels very much in the vein of The Prayer – a desperate plea and embrace of a kind of liminal weekend space, where the speaker becomes more themselves. the chorus here implies a relationship or a person, but the verses seem to fill that out into a broader space. Where Is Home? is a scathing, furious track about a funeral following a racially motivated murder, the death of Christopher Alaneme. Kele Okereke reflects on being a child of immigrants in a space that is super hostile to their presence – an excellent song. Kreuzberg is an interesting track about an important moment in the speaker’s life. p neat. I Still Remember is pretty good. a very pleasant song but seems to float by me. Flux is a high-energy, high tempo, electric dance song. fits thematically with a lot of the other escapism, club-scene focused songs, and i really like how earnest it is. Sunday is another touching, reflective track, elevating the quiet end of a weekend to a soaring moment, emphasizing the romance of that morning after. SRXT was the original closing track to the record, and what a strong closer, discussing suicidal thoughts. powerful way to bring things to a close, especially with that music box fade out.
Selfish Son was a digital-only track – not my fave but has some really good moments for sure.
faves – Hunting For Witches, The Prayer, The Uniform, Where Is Home?, Flux
this is a record on the precipice – the lyrics here deal with a perspective that wants to be hopeful but is watching themselves age into adulthood in strange and foreign ways. a lot of the records i look at here deal with drugs and club culture, or the malaise of aging through your 20s and the ways folks engage in escapism, or of coming to terms with a world that is hostile and is antithetical to both what you were told it was and what you want it to become, and i think this record has some interesting things to say on all of those topics.
musically, its trying a lot of different sounds, from more straightforward rock sounds to some much more club sounds, and im on board for quite a bit of it. Kele’s voice isnt ALWAYS my cup of tea, but he has an incredibly striking, moving voice, and there are some really excellent performances here.
A Weekend In the City – 8/10
for the next Weekly Album Review, i’ll be taking a look at SCARING THE HOES, by JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown! i’ll be back on Friday, April 19th, with that review and to pick another weekly record, and in the meantime, let me know what album you’d like me to review! (i pool all suggestions in one place, and draw a person, then one pick from that person, so feel free to drop as many as you’d like! if you leave an email or username i’ll contact you when i’ve gotten through all your suggestions.)