(photo: Estefany Gonzalez)

Starting on September 16, Bloc Party has been playing a very limited tour of the US, playing their debut album Silent Alarm in its entirety. San Francisco the final of six lucky stops on this tour.

Vocalist Kele Okereke and guitarist Russell Lissack are the only band members who were there for Silent Alarm‘s original release. They’ll be joined by bassist Justin Harris and drummer Louise Bartle. It will be interesting to see how a Gordon-Moakes-less configuration handles Silent Alarm, as his bass and hypnotic synthesizers helped greatly contributed to the fever-dream pace for which the record is so lauded.

Silent Alarm is arguably Bloc Party’s greatest work. The songs are catchy without a whiff of pretension, but their existential examination of life’s broader meaninglessness could keep overly excitable philosophy majors busy for hours. Less sung and more recited by poetry, the lyrical content goes punch-for-punch with the manic instrumentals. Listening to Silent Alarm is auditory marathon-running, and the audience has the luxury of stepping into their stride as deeply as they wish.

Bloc Party
The Masonic
November 20, 2019
8pm, $49.50