Track Listing

1. Little Thoughts
2. Tulips
3. Banquet (Phones Disco Edit)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #97982 in Music
• Released on: 2005-01-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Single

Customer Reviews

bloc party are ones to watch
Currently one of London's hottest properties and looking likely to make it big in 2004, Bloc Party look set to have quite a hit on their hands with 'Little Thoughts'. Evidently raised on guitar bands of the late 70s/early 80s, the Blocs are recommended to fans of this era as they sound very similar in terms of guitar sounds and mixing style. With a sudden upsurge in bands that seem to take so much vocal style from the 'wrong' part of the 80s (we're practically ripe for a Talking Heads reunion some weeks), it is good that there's someone around to tip the scales, as vocalist Kele Okereke manages to avoid sounding anything other than heartfelt as he belts out "I'll go back if you ask me" during each chorus. For a band to derive so much from a time period so riddled with very dodgy bands yet still sound refreshing is a positive sign that this band could be one to watch. Just when you thought the verse/chorus/verse popness was over, the closing bars feature a quite charming signature change from the standard 4 beats to a bar to no less than seven, which is so seamless it's barely noticeable. 'Little Thoughts' alone should be more than enough to merit buying this single.

In terms of actual sound, there are very few evident production techniques on the go here - it sounds very 'dry' and this works really well for me, as you can hear the song as it's supposed to sound as opposed to hidden under 12 layers of chorus and reverb. This isn't just indie we're dealing with here, it's almost lo-fi.

Backing up 'Little Thoughts' are b-sides 'Tulips' and a remix of previous offering 'Banquet'. Slow indie number 'Tulips' is quite a relaxed, amiable 3 minutes but its slow pace and thin-sounding guitars, whilst not offending, do nothing to make you hit repeat and it's all very forgettable. Thankfully though our third track, the Phones Disco Edit of 'Banquet', is brilliant. It's always annoying when someone remixes a song you like only to take it to pieces and change it until even the artist barely recognises it, but this isn't the case here. Much of the song is left the same, but the beat is more defined and crucially the structure remains the same so it still sounds a lot like the original. Initially the length of this song, at nearly five and a half minutes, may seem a little excessive but surprisingly it doesn't drag - especially if you play it loud!.

Ultimately then, this single is recommended for fans of Bloc Party's previous work, and also fans of 70s/80s guitar - the Police especially, maybe even bands like The Cure and The Smiths. This is a great little band with a great talent. I should also mention that the mixing of the title track is a credit to the engineer, who makes this band sound tighter than scrooge at Christmas! Buy buy buy.

An Excellent Taster
This single proves that the hype about Bloc Party (depending what magazines you read) is certainly worth it.

"Little Thoughts" is an excellently crafted single which will lead nicely into the anticipated EP. The vocals are key to this band as they are unique from much I have heard in terms of style and content. The start of the song starts very lo-fi and turns into a more fuller sound and this, I think, works beautifully for this song.

The album in January is sure to be a resounding success if Bloc Party keep producing music like this.