r/BlocParty

Sorry to keep adding to the pile-on, but some of these are pretty funny

https://x.com/roryisconfused/status/2089743671612629147

https://x.com/david\_\_blowie/status/2089806076296265744

https://x.com/bushontheradio/status/2089746394605076865

So I totally understand the criticism and dislike for Coming On Strong and especially Love Bombs (I had mixed feelings about those at first too) but I genuinley don't understand how people are hating on Pigwig. And it doesn't just seem like criticism or a disliking to it, but actual hate and really nasty things are being said.

I actually really like the cheesy and tounge and cheek lyrics on this song because they're so oddly specific and you just know it comes from a very real place; lines and references from the song were clearly spoken and things that are said clearly happened in real life (Kele even came out and said a while ago that everything heard on the album actually happened). I think that gives the song a lot more meaning and makes it that much more special, yet bittersweet too. I also think there are some great lyrics and really beautiful lines here and there that aren't so cheesy.

I really dig the instrumentals and the overall production of the song. It's not supposed to sound heavy, it's clearly a more upbeat pop sounding tune. Kele's vocals on this track really shine too, by far his best performance out of the singles for the album yet. The chorus is super catchy as well and it has a great hook.

Personally, I liked the song as soon as I heard it and I'm liking it more and more each subsequent listen. Now We Can't Be Friends is my favourite so far from the album and I LOVE that song, it instantly clicked with me, but I think people are being really harsh with Pigwig. Each to their own, but some people are being straight up horrible and unfair I feel like.

I remember a fan talking to Kele back in the day, and privately he was really hurt but Intimacy’s mixed reception at the time. And if he was hurt by that, jeez imagine what he's feeling now. Since then every Bloc album, no matter how maligned, has justified its existence in some way. Four was one last attempt at getting classic Bloc to work. Hymns was the band trying to prove the band could still exist without Matt or Gordy. Alpha Games was them debuting the Lousie version of the band. Whether you love them or hate them, they exist for a good reason.

This time Kele got to work with one of his all time idols, and he really put his heart and soul into telling a story with the lyrics this time around. The result? The commercial numbers for the singles are in the toilet, and the reviews are easily the worst of their career. Not even The Love Within got this level of hate. Anatomy has career-ender written all over it.

It’s telling that the most amount of attention they’ve received in the past 10 years has been touring Silent Alarm. It was meant to be a one-off tour, but they’ve done it over and over since then. At this point, they must know making new albums is losing them money and actively harming their brand. I wonder if with Anatomy the writing will be on the wall - it’s time to become an oldies act. They can still go out and tour Silent Alarm and other old stuff, and Kele can fulfil his creative urges by releasing another 100 solo albums. But surely after this, Bloc Party as recording artists are done.

I can't help but start this post with a recent quote by u/Resident-Hair5965 😅

>Oh yay another one of these threads!

In my defence, this post had been saved as a draft for days.

So... Am I in love with what I’ve heard so far off Anatomy, no. Have I loved everything Bloc Party have ever put out? God, no. Then, why do I always sound like an apologist? Most likely because I am; but not for the reasons most would assume. It’s pretty obvious that Bloc Party is my favourite band/artist, but they’re also a tiny fraction of all the music I listen to; and indie rock is also a fraction of the genres I enjoy, so I do have more flexibility when it comes to changes in style and substance. Contrary to the popular belief, I’ve fallen out of love with bands that I used to die for (Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Silversun Pickups, Muse, to name a few) and I’ve started to listen to artists that I didn’t like before too, so I 100% understand what many of you are and have been feeling about Bloc and I think you have the right to express those feelings and opinions, especially if Bloc have had a significant impact in your life.

Then why do I get so defensive here? I can boil this down to a few reasons:

1. Some fans have been disliking Bloc Party for years now (especially v2.0) and still feel the need to come here to make tired points that don’t add up to anything interesting or new.
2. Some fans are being offensive and rude, and they don’t even notice it.
3. This is a space to share our opinions, experiences, information and engage in constructive discussion, not a place to put our hate only because we can.
4. I get fan input from many places other than Reddit, and some people here act that this subreddit’s opinion represent the fanbase as a whole. There’s a sense of entitlement in some of the posts and comments we get here from time to time.
5. This subreddit and other Bloc Party fan-created spaces are maintained by people who invest their spare time and energy into making this a safe and enjoyable space for people who like Bloc Party as a whole. And I’m not saying that you all must like all phases or versions of the band, I’m saying that I’d expect you to like the band even if you don’t like their latest releases. For instance, I know and respect so many fans who don’t care about anything after AWITC and they still love the band, buy merch, got to shows, etc.
6. This is a Bloc Party subreddit, not an “I hate Kele” subreddit.
7. Finally, because we really need more positivity in the world right now, and it saddens me to see people using a space like this to be hateful, discouraging, offensive, etc. as if we need more of that. And not having something positive to say doesn’t mean that all we can say has to be hateful or rude i.e. we should always find better and respectful ways of expressing our negative opinions.

I genuinely love this community, and everything I do for fellow fans and the band is out of love. And I’m sure people who love something or someone understand that loving doesn’t always equate to liking, and it makes you want to defend it. I said it in a post here no long ago: every single Bloc Party fan benefits from the band being active regardless of how much we like or dislike what they’re doing now; and that’s a fact whether we want to admit it or not. So my plead is if you love the band, you don’t have to like everything they do, just respect it and respect those who do like it.

And I know I’m biased because I have experience and understand the business side of the music industry, and I’ve met all the members and have had meaningful conversations about their process, the job, their lives, etc. so I’m in this privileged position where I don’t have to guess intent, I could simply get answers directly from the band, if I needed to. I’m also well aware that since English is not my first language, I don’t perceive Kele’s lyrics the way native speakers do, and because I’m not a musician, I don’t know how more or less complex/rich/interesting this some is compared to that other; so I may have blind spots from the point of view of many fans here, but I don’t think either is a prerequisite to enjoy somebody’s art.

See you at some gig and "God bless Bloc Party"😉

PS: My hope is that the new singles are not the best the album has to offer (which has been the case with almost all releases, but I love Pigwig and (Lagoon) Blue, so I take that over nothing.)

PS 2: I’m writing this as a member of this subreddit, not as a Mod.

Be honest.

I gotta admit I'm really excited still, I'm always curious about new Bloc. But I know given the reaction to the new singles many might not share that outlook.

Genuinely hard to see. Tweets making fun of Pigwig calling it "UK poo" getting 2k likes. The Radio 6 subreddit has threads shitting on every single song that's come out so far. And the thing is you can't really say people are being harsh; it's just an absolutely shocking set of songs (and I say this as someone who quite likes Love Bombs). The indieheads post on Pigwig is pretty hilarious

Check out the Instagram comments for their Pigwig post. It's genuinely heartbreaking

Louise's band Novacub. And that's not a compliment. Really poor, adolescent lyrics, loads of guitar effects to make up for the lack of inspired melodies and riffs, try-hard pop choruses

SA, AWITC, Intimacy, Four, B-Sides, Nextwave Sessions increase in value. I’m 0/4 for the new singles and seems like another Hymns quality album.
BP died in 2013.

Usually when they drop a single, it’s available as soon as the clock strikes midnight somewhere on earth. I am usually able to use a vpn set to something like Australia or Japan. Seems like it’s not the case this time 💔

Hey everybody!

This maybe me asking for a miracle but I’ve have been on a mission to find the acoustic version of Sunday that Bloc Party performed at The spinners Interface in 2007, maybe 2009? I’ve had it in an mp3 player back in the day and I would play it repeatedly. To me it’s better than the KEXP version by miles.

I’ve done so much digging and the closer I’ve gotten to is was finding a dead link here; https://chromewaves.net/2007/07/a-certain-trigger/comment-page-1/#comment-3509500. I even commented on the old forum just to see if anyone responds.

If anyone has it ripped somewhere or a link to the video or a clue to how i can find it, I would be forever grateful. I would love to hear it again.

Thanks.

Update/Edit:

I’ve done some more digging. I used the internet way back machine and the link to the mp3 was hosted externally. Which means the link is a dead end. HOWEVER, Turns out the link in the chromewaves blog is actually from a session at WFNX (101.7 FM). So now I’m looking for "WFNX Boston 2007 Acoustic Session" or "FNX Sunday", I believe? I’m hoping someone has megafolder with an mp3 somewhere. I won’t stop trying to find it.