Bloc Party on Letterman last nite

What's the big fuss about Bloc Party? Let's just say that they don't snap my elastic.

Young
British
Hottest thing on eight legs
Vageuly angsty music
Pimped by Urban Outfitters
Friends of Franz

I loathed the Franz record last year.

Yet Bloc Party is my fav of this year…One of my favorite things in quite some time.

Odd isn't it?

Originally posted by Ellis D. Fleischbach:
What's the big fuss about Bloc Party? Let's just say that they don't snap my elastic.

agreed. i don't know what is so exciting about them either.

Lead guitarist…genius.

I just watched their performance on letterman (tivo'd) and have to say this… it was definitely a sub-par performance. They were on kimmel or o'brien a week or two ago and were MUCH better. I tivo all 3 late night shows and have noticed that the letterman sound isn't that great, imo.

I can not get over the compression on the record. It is just over produced. Sounds very annoying to me. There are some nifty song bits in there (Television/Interpol-ish stuff). Eh.

bahhh to all of you.

you're all too jaded with the deluge of post-punk revival bands to see a gem that on first glance (and listen) sounds like another clone.

i don't care if they're over-hyped or how much is written about them, bloc party's album is fucking ace and their live show is delightfully sloppy. they have certain elements that put them at the top of the sound-alike nu-wavers like nasty drums and an emotionally engaged – rather than monotone and icy – singer

damn good band

now bands like the dead 60s and the kaiser chiefs i really don't get … i'm a youngin who didn't grow up in the punk era, but i'm still kinda turned off by their extremely liberal "borrowing" from the clash and other first wave 70s punk groups, seems wholly unoriginal

Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
bahhh to all of you.

you're all too jaded with the deluge of post-punk revival bands to see a gem that on first glance (and listen) sounds like another clone.

i don't care if they're over-hyped or how much is written about them, bloc party's album is fucking ace and their live show is delightfully sloppy. they have certain elements that put them at the top of the sound-alike nu-wavers like nasty drums and an emotionally engaged – rather than monotone and icy – singer

damn good band

now bands like the dead 60s and the kaiser chiefs i really don't get … i'm a youngin who didn't grow up in the punk era, but i'm still kinda turned off by their extremely liberal "borrowing" from the clash and other first wave 70s punk groups, seems wholly unoriginal

you just like it because you wear scarves

Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:



damn good band

They suck. :)

I'd just like to know how they got so damn popular. Really, I'm curious.

My jaw dropped to the floor when I heard they sold out the Black Cat. Very rarely does a show at the Black Cat sell out, especially 1-2 months before the show even takes places. Hell, only about 2-3 days before the Teenbeat reuninon did that show sell out. I happen to really enjoy their new CD and was looking foward to seeing them perform. Oh, well.

Originally posted by madteletubbie:
I'd just like to know how they got so damn popular. Really, I'm curious.

media hype and the often-overlooked fact that they're a good band

Originally posted by madteletubbie:
My jaw dropped to the floor when I heard they sold out the Black Cat. Very rarely does a show at the Black Cat sell out

huh? the black cat sells out tons of weekend nights, oftentimes for bands you'd never expect to sell out … granted, it's often a walk-up crowd that sells the show out, but it's still not "rare"

i thought it was pretty normal that the bloc party show sold-out, they have tons of media hype and the reasons listed by kosmo above … oh, that, and they're good, easy to forget about it when there's a constant hum of publicity about them

Originally posted by general grievous:
you just like it because you wear scarves

huh?

i've owned a few scarves in my life, all of which i've lost or left somewhere … i'm from florida, why would i wear scarves?

Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
huh?

i've owned a few scarves in my life, all of which i've lost or left somewhere … i'm from florida, why would i wear scarves?

because you like emo, bloc party sound like Jimmy Eat World, Remember? try and keep up

The Bloc Party CD is good but it does sound like the guitarist was attempting to quote everyone under the sun. Pixies, U2, Gang of Four… Live some of the gloss disappears and the chaos is fun to bounce along to.

From what I've heard of the Dead 60s they are a band I will enjoy… Sure they sound like the Clash but then again the Clash are gone and the Dead 60s appear passionate enough to replace them.

I much prefer the Kaiser Chiefs over say Kasabian… Both groups are guilty of releasing ablums that end up sounding like a compliation of past bands. In the case of the Kaiser Chiefs it's Blur and The Fun Boy Three

Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:

Originally posted by madteletubbie:
My jaw dropped to the floor when I heard they sold out the Black Cat. Very rarely does a show at the Black Cat sell out

huh? the black cat sells out tons of weekend nights, oftentimes for bands you'd never expect to sell out … granted, it's often a walk-up crowd that sells the show out, but it's still not "rare"

But madteletubbie's point is exactly that it's very unusual for the Black Cat to sell out so far in advance, even for weekend shows. Even very hyped bands tend to sell out only the week of the show (except for the Shins – that double show sellout was wicked strange as well).

Sure bands come along with the super-hype – lately it's happening before their full-length debut albums are even released (a la Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party…). Still, that was pretty insane.

Of course, Franz sold out the frickin' 9:30 Club for their first show in town.

And I agree, Bloc Party's a great band and worthy of the current hype (not that I'm sure they'll withstand the test of time, but they're one of the current bands with a great album out, not just a great song out…)

Originally posted by Bags:
But madteletubbie's point is exactly that it's very unusual for the Black Cat to sell out so far in advance, even for weekend shows. Even very hyped bands tend to sell out only the week of the show (except for the Shins – that double show sellout was wicked strange as well).

point taken about bloc party … it just still wasn't jaw-droppingly stunning to me that they sold out in advance

and you were surprised that the shins sold out?? i was amazed that they weren't at 930 club, they're easily one of the biggest indie bands around … i think of them in the same light as the postal service, where people who don't necessarily live for music are easily exposed to them through normal commercial channels … the reason they go gold and sell hundreds of thousands of records is that they're liked by people with open minds but who don't necessarily follow indie music with a fine-toothed comb … you don't have to be a bargain-bin-hunting early adopter to hear them, all you have to do is watch that "cool underground indie flick" garden state or teen soap operas (or mcdonald's ads)

all of that adds up to big-time sold-out show in my mind.

Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
and you were surprised that the shins sold out??

No, no, I wasn't surprised by the Shins sell out at all…just noting that it was the last time I remember a B.C. show selling out so fast. That made more sense, and folks had a feeling it would sell out fast. A lot of folks were caught completely off guard when Bloc Party sold out so soon in advance.

The only people suprised by the Bloc Partyy sellout, were those who assumed they were the only ones "hip" enough to know who the band was. Then put off buying the tickets until the last minute which tends to happen for shows at the Black Cat. Unfortunately, for them me included, a bunch of "real" fans got off their barstools and bought tickets to the show within a month after it went on sale. The show soldout before or soon after Pitchfork lauded it…

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
The only people suprised by the Bloc Partyy sellout, were those who assumed they were the only ones "hip" enough to know who the band was. Then put off buying the tickets until the last minute which tends to happen for shows at the Black Cat. Unfortunately, for them me included, a bunch of "real" fans got off their barstools and bought tickets to the show within a month after it went on sale. The show soldout before or soon after Pitchfork lauded it…

i just wonder if those "hip" people were smart enough to buy tickets early this time around for bloc party. or are they too cool for bloc party now and jumped on to the next cool band :)