{"id":4308,"date":"2016-02-22T13:57:49","date_gmt":"2016-02-22T18:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=4308"},"modified":"2016-02-29T10:21:28","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T15:21:28","slug":"bloc-party-hymns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/bloc-party-hymns\/","title":{"rendered":"Bloc Party <br>Hymns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/bloc_party-hymns.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4309\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-4309\" src=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/bloc_party-hymns.jpg\" alt=\"Bloc Party, Hymns\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/bloc_party-hymns.jpg 250w, https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/bloc_party-hymns-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>It was back in 2005 when Bloc Party released its debut full-length, <i>Silent Alarm<\/i>, and while it may seem not that long ago, in pop culture terms, it might as well be 50 billion years. At the time, rock music was experiencing a re-emergence of guitar bands who felt comfortable rubbing elbows with the club scene and making people dance. Bloc Party seemingly captured that moment, specifically with the Gang of Four\u2013inspired single \u201cBanquet.\u201d Then that moment was over. But rather than belabor the point, the band slowly began to incorporate electronic influences into the mix until gradually the scrappy group from 2005 seemed well in the rearview. Inevitable solo outings by lead singer Kele Okereke eventually followed, along with extended breaks between records and subsequently an indefinite hiatus.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been four years since the band\u2019s last record, the appropriately titled <i>Four<\/i>, but Bloc Party has returned to action with <i>Hymns<\/i> (Vagrant Records). It\u2019s an interesting time for the band. <i>Four<\/i> was touted as a bit of a course correction and return to form, but the album was nearly the group\u2019s last. During the time away, bassist Gordon Moakes and drummer Matt Tong left the band, so anyone waiting for a remake of the <i>Silent Alarm<\/i>\u2013era will likely have to stop holding their breath. Instead, the approach taken on <i>Hymns<\/i> is like that of previous records\u2019 blend of electronics. It\u2019s decidedly not the sound of four cats in a room, but rather the product of laboring over laptops, which in itself is not a bad thing. There are some truly interesting moments, such as the opening track, \u201cThe Love Within,\u201d and a tension from playing both sides of the fence that resembles the spirit of the band\u2019s heyday if not its sound.<\/p>\n<p>What doesn\u2019t sit as well is Okereke\u2019s lyrics. <i>Hymns<\/i> is purported to be inspired in part by the gospel music of his youth, resulting in a plainspoken directness. To be fair, he was never an intricate wordsmith, but this time around there are lines that feel clumsy. Perhaps the music did more of the heavy lifting in the past, but instances which should be heartfelt wind up being cringe-inducing. For example, on \u201cFortress,\u201d Okereke croons, \u201cThese sheets of ours shield our bodies like a fortress. They keep us safe from harm.\u201d Um, sure the lyric is direct and clear, but not much else. There are times when it does work, but only when the band makes up for the lyrical weakness musically, as on \u201cOnly He Can Heal Me,\u201d which is guilty of the same lyrical sins, but is so strong you can let it ride.<\/p>\n<p><i>Hymns<\/i> is probably not be the Bloc Party record you want, especially if you\u2019ve happened to miss the last two records entirely. (If you\u2019re up-to-date, results may vary.) If nothing else, the record will buy the band time to figure out what the next step is. Meanwhile, there are worst ways to spend 47 minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was back in 2005 when Bloc Party released its debut full-length, <i>Silent Alarm<\/i>, and while it may seem not that long ago, in pop culture terms, it might as well be<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[34,1593,1594],"class_list":["post-4308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-review","tag-bloc-party","tag-vagrant-records"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bloc Party Hymns - The Agit Reader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/bloc-party-hymns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bloc Party Hymns - The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was back in 2005 when Bloc Party released its debut full-length, Silent Alarm, and while it may seem not that long ago, in pop culture terms, it might as well be\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/bloc-party-hymns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-22T18:57:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-02-29T15:21:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/bloc_party-hymns.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dorian S. 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