'''Bloc Party''' is an English art rock/post-punk revival band. The band has been around in various guises since 2002, with names such as Superheroes of BMX, The Angel Range, Diet, and Union, before settling on Bloc Party in September 2003. The name is a play on ''block party'', a name for an informal neighborhood festival, which might hire a local band as entertainment. The band has said that the name was not intended to be an allusion to the Soviet Bloc or the Canadian political party Bloc Québécois; the absence of a 'k' is purely for aesthetics.
However, the band's bassist, Gordon Moakes, said on the group's official internet forum that it was more a merging of the eastern "blocs" and the western "parties", in the political sense. Moakes notes that the name was not driven by politics, but rather it "looked, sounded, seemed fine so we the band went with it."
The Band
Band members Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack have formed the fulcrum of these various incarnations, and were subsequently joined by bassist Gordon Moakes, and most recently drummer Matt Tong. Lissack and singer/guitarist Kele Okereke met in 1998 in Essex, where Lissack had grown up and Okereke attended school. Lissack attended Bancroft's School and Okereke attended Trinity for sixth form. They bumped into each other again in 1999 at the Reading Festival and soon after formed the band Union.
The band is currently managed by Coalition, and represented by Simon White, formerly of Britpop band Menswe@r.
It may seem Bloc Party's own variation of spiky guitar rock draws on influences such as The Cure, Sonic Youth, Pixies, Joy Division, Gang of Four, and XTC, but they say that some of these bands are just comparisons. Russell had never heard of Gang Of Four before they came out with Silent Alarm.
Releases
In 2003 they changed their name from Union to Bloc Party and in November had their track 'The Marshals Are Dead' featured on a compilation CD called 'The New Cross' released by Angular Recording Corporation. Soon after they released their debut single ''She's Hearing Voices'' on the then fledgling record label Trash Aesthetics.
The band got their break after Okereke went to a Franz Ferdinand concert in 2003, and was able to thrust a copy of the single into the hands of both Franz lead singer Alex Kapranos and Radio One DJ Steve Lamacq. Lamacq subsequently played the song on his radio show, labeling the track "genius", and invited them to record a live session for the show.
The buzz generated off the back of the Trash Aesthetics single sparked some A&R interest,
