Four by Bloc Party

Four, Bloc Party's fourth album, came out on Frenchkiss in August 2012, and it's the sound of a band that had spent two years apart deciding to plug the guitars back in. After going on hiatus in 2009 they regrouped in September 2011 and cut the record at Stratosphere Sound in New York with Alex Newport, who had produced bassist Gordon Moakes' side project Young Legionnaire.

The record swings back toward the guitar-heavy rush of Silent Alarm: Russell Lissack's lead guitar twitching and slashing, Kele Okereke's vocals and rhythm guitar pushing hard, Moakes and drummer Matt Tong hitting like they have something to prove. "Octopus", all stuttering riff and nervous energy, was the one the countdowns grabbed. It turned out to be the last album from the original four, since Tong and Moakes had both left by 2015.

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