Bloc
Party’s debut album – Silent Alarm
Bloc Party’s debut album “Silent Alarm” doesn’t
contain a central lyrical theme, it’s more akin to an observation of
people’s lives and it is based on the feelings of the band members in
2004.
Okereke’s idea behind the album was that it was meant
to allow each listener to make their own conclusions while still getting
its message out.
The album was recorded in twenty-two days, all
fifteen tracks being written some time before they entered the studio.
The band had a unique way of crafting their songs, usually having a good
idea about a certain track’s rhythm but no idea whatsoever as to how the
track would begin or end. This lead to Okereke usually asking Tong to
play something on the drums to inspire him to write the guitar chords to
that beat. The album was produced by Paul Epworth whom the band chose
based on his work with The Futureheads; his forward-leaning style
separated the band’s different elements but accentuating the bass, thus
leaving more space for guitar improvisations.
The band never intended to make the album or the
songs particularly dance-aligned, rather they looked for ways of
avoiding rock clichés by making them sonically interesting through
experimentation; all the members of the band believing that 21st
century rock music can only survive if people start to mix styles that
don’t ordinarily fit together, this lead to the album’s varied sound and
exploration of other genres within it. This particular album was
directed towards the audience which is mainly interested in electro, pop
or R&B.
This universal appeal was obtained thanks to the key
input of their producer and his bass-oriented production method. In an
interview, Okereke said that the album’s goal was to make clear a
certain existential pointlessness in life while saying that the band was
happy with the final version of the album because it achieved its aim of
making songs sound better and bigger when they were recording them.
The critical response to the album was overwhelmingly
positive, aggregating website Metacritic reporting a general rating of
82% in March 2005 based on 32 critical reviews.
Besides the many best
albums lists “Silent Alarm” found itself on and the many nominations to
various awards it got, it won the Indie Rock Album Of The Year award at
the 2006 PLUG Awards.
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