Four

“Can’t shake the feeling we’re moving backwards,” sings Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke over de-tuned acoustic strums on “Coliseum,” moments before his band launches into a nasty blues-metal stomp. In a way, his intuition is spot-on: On Four, Bloc Party’s fourth overall album (and first in four years), these former indie-rock poster boys have re-harnessed the urgent, anthemic sound that catapulted their debut, 2005′s Silent Alarm, into the critical limelight.

It’s been ages since Bloc Party has “rocked” in any sense of the word: Their 2007 sophomore effort, A Weekend in the City, was plagued by self-conscious attempts at political lyricism and art-rock atmospherics, while 2008′s Intimacy was the exact opposite of intimate, filled with bloated electronic experimentation that de-fused the band’s explosive strengths. But Four wastes absolutely no time setting the record straight, blaring out of the gate with “So He Begins To Lie,” a startlingly raw epic built on the quartet’s aggressive “live in the room” communion: Matt Tong’s caffeinated drum cacophony, Gordon Moakes’ distorted bass, and the crossfire riff telepathy between Okereke and guitarist Russell Lissack.

But Four isn’t defined by nostalgic backward glances: Bloc Party may have returned to a more linear style of indie-rock, but they’re also… read more »