With their first two albums
Silent Alarm (2005) and
A Weekend In The City (2007), Bloc Party held a prominent place in the British alternative indie rock scene. Also on
Intimacy (2009) the capriciousness still celebrated high, but slowly but surely the band fell out of favor. Alpha Games showcases the grittiness of the past, with nervous guitar riffs, spitting vocals from frontman Kele Okereke and
… distorted percussion. In addition, the band showcases some nice tension building in songs like Rough Justice. Although the whole thing crackles and rubs wonderfully, nowhere do we get a climax a la Banquet or Helicopter. Not that the band needs to linger in the past, but the euphoric sound of their earlier work is less emphatic on Alpha Games. (JvQ)more
