Somedays I begin to think I'm the only one on the face of this planet NOT falling all over the newer Arcade Fire and Bloc Party albums. As far as Arcade Fire goes....where was the energy they screamed over on their first album. It started off promising with the first two tracks, "Black Mirror" (the single) and "Keep The Cars Running". But then the title track just loses all of its energy and grinds the album to a halt. Conor Oberst called and said he wants his song "Intervention" back but you keep the kid-like choir in the back ground. "The Well And The Lighthouse" tries to reclaim some energy back (which is a decent attempt giving the sorry excuse of a song "Blank Wave" before it) but the better track is "Antichrist Television Blues" which brings back the five minute Arcade Fire we know and love. The rest of the album drags through the swamp of nothingness with the only highlight being a re-hash of "No Cars Go" from their earlier EP which was just an "ok song" to begin with.
As for Bloc Party's latest-The album starts off on an ok note. The song "Song For Clay (Disapear Here)" isn't your typical Bloc Party song, at least not anything from "Silent Alarm". It builds from a moaning croon to a decent song but I could just be favored towards it since it's inspired by the book "Less Than Zero". Bret Easton Ellis sits high on my bookshelf! "Hunting For Witches" is my favorite track by far on this album, solid Bloc Party sound with their typical political viewpoint that got them through their first album so well. The first song I ever heard off the album, "Waiting For The 7:18", sounds like two different songs thrown together rather hastily, probably would have been better if kept as a ballad. The main single "The Prayer" has a wonderful dance beat going on which is perfect for the lyrics ("Lord give me grace and dancing feet and the power to impress") but the song itself still doesn't slide together very well. "Uniform" started off very weak but became a stronger track; unfortunately at that point it was more than halfway over and didn't quite make the mark. "On" ("I Can Charm Them All") doesn't quite charm me at all. It's a middle of the album track that does nothing except become space filler for the cd. The rest of the album drags on with "I Still Remember" being a sweet little love number that barely peaks over the remaining five tracks.
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Finally somebody calls Bloc Party out on the complete mediocrity that they have become. The more I think about it, the more I believe this album was their way of making sure everybody knows they are "serious" and therefore should be "respected." Which is almost always the point at which a band becomes "boring." It's also the point at which a million indie kids will all say they love it just to prove how smart they are.
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