![]() "Hunting for Witches" fakes you out with a sample collage at the top, then takes on xenophobia in a dutiful re-take on the band's first hit, "Banquet". The opener has singer Kele Okerere trying on a sly, potentially embarrassing falsetto, but within a minute the band's starting to kick up dust, on its way to a chorus hook that's loose, energetic, and honestly thrilling: It's the kind of craftsmanship that would sound good coming from nearly anyone. ![]() ![]() And this keeps them … well, convincing.Īnd so when A Weekend in the City comes bursting out at you with a gaggle of second-album upgrades- new tricks, new scope, new arrangements- the bulk of them sound like good ideas: They've been executed by hard-working professionals. If they have the demeanor of rock's teacher's pets, they have the talent and the work ethic, too- they're attentive, conscientious, and good at what they do. Judging by their records, Bloc Party are awfully dedicated to the craft and the details of making this stuff: From their first songs onward, they've been cruising through big tricks with a studied ease that makes you wonder why other bands find it so difficult. But then there's the other side of their seriousness. All of this could have led them down the path to an absolutely dreadful second album: pompous, preachy, overreaching, and still dull.
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