The Loop : Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm (2005)

I was incredibly fortunate to have my favorite record store, Hoodlums Music, on ASU campus during my time there. My brother talked about it a lot while I was still in high school, and I was so totally stoked about what was in store for my college experience if THAT was my first indicator. I spent an insane amount of time there, not only as a fan but for work, and to this day look forward to visiting (their new location) and hanging with the Hoods. I doubt I will ever find a record store anywhere that I love as much.

One of my many hours was spent one afternoon while browsing the listening stations between classes. I was standing at the ones in the back by the office, picking up a few things here and there as I listened. A tall boy comes up next to me and starts listening at his own booth. He then leans over and points to the Bloc Party record. "This one is really good." he said. I take off my headphones, surprised and excited that he'd just offer his opinion like that. I had never heard of this band, but he goes on to tell me about them and how it's one of his favorite records of the year so far. I'm so happy to be geeking out about music with a random stranger and suggest that he pick up Ben Lee's Awake is the New Asleep. We end up talking for a few minutes and make our way to the register with our purchases. It turns out that he had come to play at some of my Open Mic Nights that I had done with The Blaze and recognized me. I get nervous and awkward as I do with any good-looking boy who knows music and suggest we become Facebook friends. A few minutes later, a friend of mine walks in and up to mysterious Bloc Party boy, as they were there to meet for a blind date. HA! Figures. We DID become Facebok friends and kept in touch here and there at shows, but for the most part I didn't hear much from him again. (We're still Facebook friends so if you see this, Hi Paul!)

"Garden State"-type moment aside, his suggestion was dead on and I LOVED the record from the first time listening to it. I had started to like a few similar bands like The Futureheads and Art Brut, sort of spazzy-poppy-British-fuzzy-rock. We played it a lot on my college radio station and I managed to get to review their show at Marquee a few months later for The State Press. The music was fast-paced and his accent thick and commanding. Songs like "Blue Light" and "This Modern Love" brought it down a notch, but a song like "Helicopter" kicks into full speed (and contains one of my favorite intros to a song EVER.) The record scored them HUGE critical acclaim, so much so that I had to beg my way into their show on New York the summer I interned. They put on an exceptional show, although their next stop in Phoenix was not so stellar. It feels like they ran out of steam, with their next records being, for lack of a better description, underwhelming.

I think the big reason I love this record was because someone else loved it so much that they had to tell me about it. The Wikipedia page goes into detail about the lyrical content and influences, and the many great reviews they got across the board. But you know what? I'll take an afternoon at my favorite record store and a new friend sharing his new favorite band over any self-important Pitchfork review any day.