English indie act Bloc Party has never had a number one hit. You won’t ever see them play the Super Bowl or probably even get a shout-out at the Grammys.
English indie act Bloc Party has never had a number one hit. You won’t ever see them play the Super Bowl or probably even get a shout-out at the Grammys. Unless you have a careful ear, you could probably go your whole life without actively listening to them. None of this though can erase the fact that Bloc Party is without a doubt one of the single most influential acts of the last decade.
Nowadays, it’s commonplace to have a new buzz band describe their sound as “indescribable” or a mix of two contrasting musical concepts. It goes unnoticed for the most part. You can attribute this to the success of artists like Beyoncé who stun the world with their latest amalgamations, but the biggest stars in history were always doing the same, albeit without maybe half the flair of Queen Bey. How did we get to a point where artists and bands were able to effectively eschew the industry created notions of genres even if they lacked a fanbase that rivaled a national army? Artists like Bloc Party deserve the credit, especially their 2005 debut record Silent Alarm.
Silent Alarm was a bold musical statement for any artist, let alone a debuting band with very humble ambitions. It was engaging rock music that could win over the most disillusioned naysayer, personable electronica that could appeal to anyone searching for an organic sound, and even existential music for people who had never before wondered “why” or “how.” It was a pivotal release that showed that even the smallest band could approach music with the same freedom as the exalted rock gods of our time.
“Being multiple things instead of one, that’s just something I’ve always been interested in,” guitarist Russell Lissack informed us. He recalled his teenage years spent with lead singer Kele Okereke where they would spend their time marveling at rock music as well as exploring the music popular in clubs at the time. “We would dance, but also really listen to the music,” he remembered. “It was a very different experience and atmosphere than going to a rock show. We just always found ourselves being pulled in both directions.”
Bloc Party would come to life in the middle of those two worlds, producing a sound that most would say doomed them to a career of obscurity even though that would clearly change in under ten years’ time. “We’ve never felt the need to come out and say we are this or we are that,” Lissack detailed. “We like music made by guitars and we also like music made by computers. It doesn’t matter and we’ve never needed to fit into one thing for anyone, not even ourselves. This is much more commonplace today with the boundaries much less defined, but when we were teenagers, it was so much more divided and fractured. You were into this or that, not both, and if you did both, you were looked as a failure waiting to happen. Clearly that wasn’t the case.”
Lissack was right. Not only was Silent Alarm far from a failure, it would go down as one of the best works of the 2000s and wildly influential record who’s effects are still being felt today. The approach and mindset that made their debut so impactful continued on for the next ten years where the band continued to evolve as artists, even in the face of what made them successful in the first place. “I’m proud of that record and what we did in the past, but we were never going to be that band forever,” Lissack explained. “We’re different people today and we were even different a year after that record came out. Each new record with its own new sound or approach — that’s just always being true to ourselves at that moment in time. Nothing more and nothing less.”
On their latest record, Hymns, from this past January, the band continued their experimentive ways with a stronger emphasis on electronica, dance, and even underground music within their songs. On Lissack’s end, this shift came from his continued interest in electronic elements, something that he believes never stops growing. “When I was younger, I was certainly influenced by other guitarists,” he detailed. “The last few years though, I haven’t heard anyone who’s inspired me to do something different or creative in that regard. I’ve had to look for electronic music to get that inspiration. That world, with its production and feel, is something that’s just constantly evolving and that makes it infinitely more interesting to me. People always have new ideas when it comes to a synthesizer or drum kit. For Hymns, I just looked to that world, drew inspiration, and adapted what I could into my world as a guitarist. It was an opportunity to experiment in a new way, but that’s also something we’ve always done as a band so it should come as no surprise.”
Depending on how you view it, Hyms could even be described as the end of an era or the beginning of one. In 2013, drummer Matt Tong left the band and bassist Gordon Moakes followed suit two years later, shortly before the band recorded their latest work. Drummer Louise Bartle and bassist Justin Harris joined the bands before the recording took place, each being featured on the new record, but Lissack admitted that it wasn’t quite a new Bloc Party just yet. “They played on Hymns and did a great job,” Lissack remarked, “but most of those songs had already been written and fleshed out by Kele and I. Their influence is going to come through on our next material which we’ve already started working on.” To Lissack, the dynamic is completely changed with Harris and Bartle part of the mix and he’s excited to see where it ends up. “They are both just lovely people to be around, both on stage and off,” he gushed. “It’s been a blast the last year with them on board because the tension that was around for so long is just gone. It’s all so pleasant now and I’m intrigued to hear what sounds come out of everyone enjoying each other’s company while trying to make something novel and creative.”
No matter what going forward though, Lissack promised it would still be the Bloc Party everyone knows and loves, even if that means it could be a dozen different things. “Bloc Party is just us being collectively true to ourselves,” Lissack defined. “No matter what sound or style we’re doing, that’s all were doing and that’s what Bloc Party will always be going forward. Four musicians just true to themselves no matter what.”
Bloc Party play The National tonight alongside The Vaccines and Oscar. Doors open at 6:30 PM with tickets still available for $30. For more information on the show and where to buy tickets, click here.
