Currently Listening to...

The Judge says:

I've known about Bloc Party for a little while now, you've probably heard their song "This Modern Love" off their second EP Silent Alarm.  Their new album, A Weekend in the City, came out this week.  Rhapsody sent me an alert and since I have their earlier album, I was interested to hear the new one.  For the uninitiated, Bloc Party plays upbeat, alternative rock that borders on a punk sound.  The punk part might just be because they have British accents and that sounds punk to me.  Maybe it's just Brit Rock?  Put it this way, it's meant to be played loud. 

ANYWAY, the new album is actually quite good with one problem: Rhapsody won't let me listen to all of the songs.  "The Prayer" is climbing the charts, according to their website, (which probably means it's climbing the charts in England).  It could be a good song but I would have no idea since Rhapsody refuses to play it for me.  Otherwise, my favorite song is "I Still Remember".  If you're not going to be in a hyper-major city in the US or Europe (no visit to DC planned) you're going to have to wait to see them live; their tour schedule is mostly European stops.  I'd buy this cd, especially so I could hear the whole thing.  Stupid Rhapsody.

If you want something mellow for Valentine's Day, check out The Weepies "Say I Am You".  It sounds like a cross between Simon and Garfunkel and Joni Mitchell.  It's a quiet, mellow cd that sounds a little depressing but actually has some hopeful, romantic songs on it.  It's one of my favorite cds, I don't care if that makes me a wuss.

I say:

I listened to the tracks available on Rhapsody and it's definitely worth listening to. To me some of tracks sounded more like house music played over punk with a bit a Keane thrown in. But like the judge said maybe all Brits just sound alike when they sing.  The sounds reminded my of postal service more than anything else. I do agree that the tracks are definitely meant to be played loudly.  With bloc party, I faced the same issue that I faced with Postal service; That is I don't really know where on play list they would go if I was to listen to them on the regular. They kinda get lost between the depressing/mellow stuff and the hot party bangers beats as my friend JK would put it.  I would not buy the entire CD but a few tracks off of Rhapsody or Itunes wouldn't be a bad deal. And if you're looking for something for Valentines day, I say go with the Barbershop Quartet. Classy and Cheesy all in one.