If you recently saw my Inteprol review, you’ll know that I was happily surprised that the group delivered a new sound that harkened back to everything that was alluring about their old one and still pushed the exploration needle forward. But with one really good comeback album, there has to be a bad one. Case in point: the new Bloc Party, Anatomy Of A Brief Romance.
I used to adore Bloc Party. I consistently spun their first three albums: Silent Alarm, A Weekend in the City, and a bit of Intimacy, on my Sony MP3 player during Junior High. The band represented everything: reckless indie rock abandon, songs about crumbling relationships, and an energetic sound that tied indie sleeve into a nice little bow. This was the same time I was obsessed with British culture, the accent, the TV (remember Skins?) so Bloc Party’s very indie Britpop sound was my link across the pond. But I grew out of them. Don’t get me wrong, if I hear “Hunting For Witches” or “Banquet,” I’ll lose my mind in nostalgia, but I haven’t thought about the band in quite sometime. And after listening to the utterly uninspired rubbish that is Anatomy Of A Brief Romance, I’m glad I didn’t.
All the mystique and intentional, metaphorical lyricism of vocalist/guitarist Kele Okereke is basically gone, and the music has become a paint-by-numbers act of Britpop. Somewhere along the way, the band swapped out catchy guitar licks for boring synthwave and even when the guitars do come in, they’re muffled and lifeless. The guitars, once barbed wire and broken glass, now sit politely in the corner like a coat nobody wants. Just listen to “Love Bombs” and tell me you haven’t heard that song before. “Muscleworks” might have one of the worst key changes I’ve heard since the 2010s.
The concept album idea of Anatomy Of A Brief Romance, on paper, sounds great: taking us through the messy stages of a relationship and backing it up with anthemic post-indie stuff. Still, it all just comes out rather flat. Okereke’s songs feel filed, indexed and footnoted. And if you have heartbreak, it should really bleed, but pitter-patter. Remember the jittery panic of Silent Alarm, the dangerous sound of kids sprinting through a burning building? That band is gone.
