Party Foul

The good news is that we have unexpected new material from Bloc Party. The bad news is that it's just not very good. And while I certainly applaud their surprise promotional tactics, it's quite apparent that the band is trying too hard to overcompensate for the negative reviews it received from last year's second effort, A Weekend In The City. Unfortunately, the band has done more bad than good while valiantly attempting to cleanse themselves of last year's mess. Which is truly unfortunate when you consider how much potential this really band has. Rather than sticking to the post-punk formula that worked out tremendously for them on their debut, they've gone all Chemical Brothers on us -- the very pitfall that made Weekend a dud. But it gets worse; while last year's sophomore effort had its moments ("I Still Remember," "Kreuzburg") you'll be hard pressed to find a cut on this record that remotely reaches the caliber of Silent Alarm. The jarringly cacophonous first single, "Mercury," is just fast beats and noise. Mix this in with Kele Okereke's annoying looped whines, and you get something that sounds like a Fatboy Slim song on crack. It doesn't get particularly better from here. "Ares" is a drum and bass nightmare that would fit much better on an obscure remix compilation. The rest of Intimacy's content is, for the most part, forgettable, which makes it increasingly difficult to believe that these are in fact the A-sides. I'd hate to hear what got tossed out.

My Rating: 4.9/10