by
This week is another exciting and important one in the history of the music we believe in. As it stands, Bloc Party’s debut album ‘Silent Alarm’ is about to go top 5, nay, top 3 in the album chart proper. And yeah, it’s had great press and great support from radio and TV. Of course this is all very exciting and we believe, deserved. But what COULD happen now is even more exciting.
A potential number 1 album from a bunch of ethical and artsy outsiders isn’t meant to be allowed to hi-jack the British mainstream, let alone take on the world. Great albums and great artists are meant to be loved but never championed. Cherished solely by those with great taste and knowing smiles. But what a number one album does in the right hands is potentially incredible.
But what’s more important is that Bloc Party have done this not through corporate lucre, but through shared belief. They’ve bucked the insular short-termist problems of the music industry and instead relied on and worked with the ballsy early chance-takers; those believers in their own ears, the likes of Steve Lamacq and David and Will (it really doesn’t matter that you don’t know those names – they probably prefer it that way) from Mtv2 went that bit further, pushed that bit harder, put their necks and reps on the line, and took a chance on a band who weren’t a sure thing and 12 months ago really weren’t seen as the ‘saviours’ of whatever need saving.
A (possible) number 1 album from Bloc Party signals a time of new precedents and establishing new conventions. What’s needed now is less hype breeding hype, and more people taking risks on the music they love, giving the great and the good the chance to succeed without the need for high singles chart positions before a band is even listened to by the gate keepers of the mainstream, those demi-arbiters of taste, who trust facts and money more than their ears.
The conglomerations no longer hold all the power. Like Franz, it’s about proving you can do it on an independent IF YOU WANT TO; you can do it through hard graft and you don’t need to compromise your soul’n’integrity to do it.
We’re really not indie-facist major-haters. We just think that a band like Bloc Party, where they are and what they stand for, are just, well… more important than most. If you think we’re wrong, that’s fine. Without going too mumbo jumbo, Bloc Party are the first real post-Radiohead, post Millennial band; one that distils a lot of the fantastic ideas, thoughts and beliefs that have been swimming around us in the past half-decade, but maybe not quite nailed down by any one act. This is here for posterity.
Currently sitting above BP are the Scissor Sisters and Keane. Why? The Brit Awards. All over TV and the radio and the red top press. They’ve had their moment in the sun (no pun intended), they’ve each sat atop the charts for weeks on end– in fact they were the biggest selling two records in the UK last year. Why do they deserve more hype, more press and more sales? What does it achieve? A bit more money for someone. That’s all. They’re big enough already. What would a no.1 ‘Silent Alarm’ achieve? A 1,000,000 more important things. A victory for a way of thinking and acting and supporting your bands.
So all we’re basically saying is this; buy this album this week; not next week if you were planning it. Buy yourself 40 less fags this week, two less double jack n cokes in an expensive bar somewhere. Borrow the money from your mum, wash your neighbour’s car (and for a tenner, better give it a rub dry and hoover the insides). You clearly love music, and if you’ve got this far (god bless you) then you must like Bloc Party. You’ve downloaded the record two months ago? No bother, just prove how much you like it by buying it. They deserve that.
Buy this album and do something for the greater good.
Point over. Thank you for reading, and feel free to send this to someone else…
