Bloc Party - Alpha Games (2022)

Posted By: Fizzpop

Date: April 28, 2022

On their sixth album, Bloc Party sound as vital and vibrant as on 2005's Silent Alarm, back during the "indie sleaze" era. Their latest is also as fun and high energy as that influential debut; if this were a person, you'd be suspicious they'd had cosmetic work done. The band continues to find inspiration in New Wave and art-school punk as singer Kele Okereke's big personality—that London accent as distinct as ever—tries on different guises. You can feel the angst as he rushes the verses of "Day Drinker," its sharp, crisp drums egging on the adrenaline release. Excellent single "Traps" layers edgy, nervous guitar and shotgun drums as the singer walks the line between louche and letch: "Cute like Bambi/ But you're headed to a trap … I wanna be your education/ I wanna be your contact high." Okereke gets playful on the otherwise ominous "Callum is a Snake," decorated with hissing and a shout of "SNAKE!" at the end. Sometimes it means dipping into unexpected pockets. There's an early '80s giddiness, à la Fun Boy Three or Altered Images, to "You Should Know the Truth," complete with sunny guitar, group backing vocals and exaggerated sighs. And the whole band leans into the high-drama theatricality of ABC on "Sex Magik"—remembering a teenage summer fling that made a deep impression, with Okereke intoning "Earth-earth, air-air, fire-fire, water-water" like a hypnotic mantra—and "Of Things Yet to Come." That one drips with rococo flourishes from Okereke and guitarist Russell Lissack (they remain the only original members). "The Girls are Fighting," meanwhile, adopts a soccer-chant vibe and screeching metal guitar solo to tell the story of a bar brawl: "It's a riot at Inferno's/ The filth are on their way … The bouncer's made a movie/ Upload it to WorldStar (Scrag fight!)." "By Any Means Necessary" is funky and slinky, and irresistible "If We Get Caught" sports confident show-off snare and an angelic chorus. For jazzy-bass closer "The Peace Offering," Okereke goes deep—truly, he expands his vocal range—and dives into a spoken-word, beatnik hep-cat mood.

TRACKLIST

1. Bloc Party - Day Drinker
2. Bloc Party - Traps
3. Bloc Party - You Should Know the Truth
4. Bloc Party - Callum Is a Snake
5. Bloc Party - Rough Justice
6. Bloc Party - The Girls Are Fighting
7. Bloc Party - Of Things Yet to Come
8. Bloc Party - Sex Magik
9. Bloc Party - By Any Means Necessary
10. Bloc Party - In Situ
11. Bloc Party - If We Get Caught
12. Bloc Party - The Peace Offering

auCDtect

–––––––––––-

DON'T MODIFY THIS FILE

–––––––––––-

PERFORMER: auCDtect Task Manager, ver. 1.6.0 RC1 build 1.6.0.1
Copyright © 2008-2010 y-soft. All rights reserved
http://y-soft.org

ANALYZER: auCDtect: CD records authenticity detector, version 0.8.2
Copyright © 2004 Oleg Berngardt. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2004 Alexander Djourik. All rights reserved.

FILE: 12 - The Peace Offering.flac
Size: 30425234 Hash: AB33F11FE4803E515D7658DC383EA938 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: DF872BFC4878322EDBA22D8EC86C2012FFAA9946
FILE: 11 - If We Get Caught.flac
Size: 24300007 Hash: BDA877B9D7861978F5687971393EE03E Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 921907505351C8A763D0DF0E64B23BCE74976C3F
FILE: 10 - In Situ.flac
Size: 20375165 Hash: 5B88EAF7E5DCBB5B9FC3A6B339B6A1AA Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 0E36CE2DBA3B0270E769AAF4C16D7A5F3C3379D2
FILE: 09 - By Any Means Necessary.flac
Size: 20466427 Hash: 0B3BFB4A40A280FD23C44290A2BDC73F Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 20999D4F2872CDD0B423A364B1E74B569D5F00DA
FILE: 08 - Sex Magik.flac
Size: 24810531 Hash: 6E4C063268D604421E77BB91A625EE30 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: E666DBB59EC36DDE7A879ADBCD667C70080CE1A0
FILE: 07 - Of Things Yet to Come.flac
Size: 30013404 Hash: ED98332D703D3C9903517D0758855541 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: B209B36BB46923699D63D679DC9A271A8EB45C73
FILE: 06 - The Girls Are Fighting.flac
Size: 29380436 Hash: E328D82B23FD6922267E0A0624191BFA Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 99%
Signature: FADAE3177D04F05488A7CECC1A241A55800AEC62
FILE: 05 - Rough Justice.flac
Size: 23231535 Hash: 22772B36F5DF25DA5DF46E266DBBBD1C Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 01A5C82C126A92FF1BD434ED5A58A94CEB2AD5AE
FILE: 04 - Callum Is a Snake.flac
Size: 15812353 Hash: 90720952FE4F4DFC72F326F652DA9172 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: E61DCF7274DB1A89B78704DE72DE6C39970B6ED4
FILE: 03 - You Should Know the Truth.flac
Size: 21461858 Hash: F4DA0B2E74EBF243D801F1E1D3B20649 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 100%
Signature: 06651B5DAC957A8D2A7CAEF9D2D388400F246D57
FILE: 02 - Traps.flac
Size: 23530493 Hash: 7975CD9DBE6FA3575BE18EF975DCF530 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 99%
Signature: 58277867247BD496DFA80FEF4C206E0EE5199460
FILE: 01 - Day Drinker.flac
Size: 25822017 Hash: 541699442DBC78A68F3DA50F83AC93B1 Accuracy: -m0
Conclusion: CDDA 99%
Signature: 09A3E7F0969DB142F712799385BB472622EDA5EF