reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City

Yikes! This is a major disappointment, if not a total loss. The sharp angles and jagged edges of 2005’s Silent Alarm have here softened into a blurry, boring mess. None of the songs on BP’s new release even registered in my (albeit chaotic) consciousness. Instead I found myself impatiently shuffling through the tracks, hoping to avoid more whiny lyrics about how cold London is in January and how the mall is mundane (hello? This is a surprise?). This music is unremarkable and dreary á la Tears for Fears circa “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” What happened boys? A Weekend in the City is such a meager follow-up to such a brilliant debut. The only sunny moments are flashes of brilliance from guitarist Russell Lissack, who seems to have the freak talent of channeling electricity though his guitar pick.