Bloc Party are an English rock band that was formed in London in 1999 by co-founders Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack. Their first four albums all featured Gordon Moakes and Matt Tong (drums), who have since left the band.
Their current lineup also contains Louise Bartle and Harry Deacon.
members: Kele Okereke, Gordon Moakes, Matt Tong, Russell Lissack, Sarah Jones, Justin Harris, Daniel Pugsley, Harry Deacon
formed in: London
labels: Atlantic Records, BMG Rights Management
genres: alternative rock, indie rock
influenced by: The Cure
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Russell Lissack and Kele Okereke first met in 1998 in London. Lissack had attended Bancroft's School, while Okereke attended Ilford County High School, then Trinity Catholic High School, Woodford Green for sixth form. They bumped into each other again in 1999 at Reading Festival and decided to form a band. Bassist Gordon Moakes joined after answering an advert in NME, and drummer Matt Tong joined after an audition. After going through a variety of names, such as Union, The Angel Range, and Diet, the band settled on Bloc Party in September 2003, a play on block party. The band has said that the name was not intended to be an allusion to the Soviet Bloc or the Canadian political party Bloc Québécois. However, Moakes said on the group's...
Bloc Party's musical style has been described as indie rock, post-punk revival, post-Britpop, alternative rock, art punk, art rock, dance-rock, and alternative dance. Early on, Bloc Party's sound was shaped primarily by American alternative rock bands Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer. Other influences included the Chemical Brothers, Pixies, Joy Division, Sonic Youth and the Smiths. Both Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack have been influenced by Britpop acts, particularly Blur, though Okereke also cites Suede and their album Dog Man Star as an inspiration. Okereke stated that Mogwai's album Mogwai Young Team changed his life by being his musical "year zero". Parallels have also been made between Bloc Party and bands such as OMD, The Cure, and...
"Banquet" is a song from British band Bloc Party's debut album Silent Alarm. Originally released on a double A-side single along with "Staying Fat" in May 2004 by Moshi Moshi Records, it was re-released as a regular single in the United Kingdom by Wichita Recordings on 25 April 2005.
It was their first single to chart on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, reaching number 34, and is often credited as their breakthrough single in North America. It was also featured in the song "Bloc Party" on the Fort Minor Mixtape: We Major.
The song was originally written by lead singer Kele Okereke while on tour in 2003. He was inspired by Pixies' record Doolittle at the time, specifically the song called "I Bleed", which was later used for the phrasing of "Banquet". Apart from Pixies, Okereke was also inspired by the song "Prince Charming" by Adam and the Ants.
There were two videos for "Banquet". A non-released version contains a recurring theme of hands, some of which push band members Russell Lissack and Gordon Moakes around while other hands cover up drummer Matt Tong's head and cast a shadow over frontman Kele Okereke. The hands eventually try to stab all of Bloc Party, set fire to the set and destroy the instruments and amps. Meanwhile, the released version shows the group performing in front of many different people. It is shown in full color and in black and white. The music video has gained around 48 million views on YouTube, becoming the band's most popular video.
"Flux" is a song by English rock band Bloc Party. It was released as a single on 12 November 2007 and produced by Jacknife Lee, along with several other new songs, during the band's week in the studio after their performances at the Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festivals.
The song uses mostly electronic instruments and features vocalist Kele Okereke's voice manipulated through Auto-Tune. It was first performed live on 26 September 2007 at Covington's Madison Theater.
A music video for the song was directed by director Ace Norton, who has previously directed videos for The Willows, Norah Jones and Death Cab for Cutie. The video was published on NME's website on 17 October 2007. Like the Beastie Boys' music video for "Intergalactic", it pays homage to Japanese kaiju movies. It shows two giant silver robots falling in love while other monsters and robots destroy the city they are in. The band themselves do not appear in the video.
"Helicopter" is a song by English rock band Bloc Party, originally released as a stand-alone single in the UK in October 2004 and appeared later on the Little Thoughts EP; it was released two years later as a single from their debut album, Silent Alarm, in the US. The song received acclaim, reaching number 26 on the UK Singles Chart but failing to chart on the US Hot 100.
It did however chart on the US Billboard Hot Singles Sales chart. Various remixes of the song have been produced.
"Helicopter" is an indie rock and garage rock song, written by all band members prior to their debut studio album, Silent Alarm. Composed in B minor, it was written in common time and has a quick tempo of 171 beats per minute. The main riff was adapted from "Set The House Ablaze", a song by The Jam featured on the 1980 album Sound Affects.
The official video is displayed in black and white and shows the band playing in an old, empty house, intercut with surreal imagery. It has received the second-most views of any of Bloc Party's songs on YouTube, gaining over 39 million views.