Top 10 Bloc Party Songs

With lyrics about the 2005 London train bombings and a guitar riff that kinda apes Ozzy’s “Crazy Train”, this song is one of the more attention-grabbing tracks off Bloc Party’s sophomore LP. Its music video is also probably one of their most minimalist ever, with just the band playing the song against a generic background. Despite the lyrics hitting close to home, it still got to #22 on the charts in their native UK.

This song is a pretty down-tempo moment compared to the high energy of the rest of the album, but Bloc Party hasn’t made many songs that are more emotional than this one. Starting with minimal drums and guitars and ending with vocal trade-offs between Kele Okereke, guitarist Russell Lissack and bass player Gordon Moakes, “Blue Light” ends up being a highlight of their stellar debut album.

The first single from their fourth album starts off with lead singer Kele taking a couple of deep breaths before jumping into his falsetto alongside fast-paced guitars. Well-received by critics, the three-minute track makes for a nice return to the classic Bloc Party sound they abandoned with their previous album Intimacy, featuring elements of indie and alternative rock, as we all as some post-punk revival.

This album could not have started off any better. With drummer Matt Tong providing yet another Stewart Copeland-esque rhythm over guitars that complement Kele’s singing and shouting voices, this song is constructed in kind of a complex way. However, its chorus gives it the kind of punch that makes “Like Eating Glass” tailor-made for festivals around the world.

Although the title might suggest that this song is about this particular area of Berlin, it’s a bit deeper than that. The lyrics do talk about being in the German capital, but it’s also rumored to be about looking for true love as well as wanting to sleep around. Overlapping vocals and mellow instrumentals make the song a standout from the latter half of their sophomore LP.

Coming around the halfway point of the album, this song is rumored to be about a guy who loves a girl, but the girl is too scared to love him back. Regardless of the song’s subject matter, it’s one of the most sonically gorgeous songs Bloc Party has ever written. “This Modern Love” wasn’t released as an actual single, but it did get featured in an episode of “How I Met Your Mother,” which introduced the band’s sound to an even wider audience.

With a high energy dance rhythm and heavy use of synths, this track was a very different direction for Bloc Party, but it paid off for them commercially: the song made the UK top 10 despite not originally being on one of their albums. “Flux” was eventually included on the rerelease of A Weekend in the City. Meanwhile, its music video was even crazier than the song itself, as it was made as an ode to Japanese kaiju movies.

Instrumentally, this is one of the band’s most unconventional tunes, as “Sign”’s rhythm was based around a glockenspiel and a percussion instrument which originated from Africa. As Kele sings about a relationship that is falling apart, strings come in to make this song more emotionally captivating than it already is, which is a nice change of pace from an otherwise experimental album.

While the band won’t confirm it, “Helicopter” is reportedly about former U.S. President George W. Bush’s actions during the Iraq War as well as Brits appropriating American culture. Coming with a black and white music video, this track was first included on Bloc Party’s Little Thoughts EP before it was unveiled as a single from Silent Alarm and peaked with the UK top 40. It’s since been featured in multiple video games and has appeared in films and TV shows.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- “Sunday”
A Weekend in the City (2007)
- “SRXT”
A Weekend in the City (2007)
- “Positive Tension”
Silent Alarm (2005)
- “Mercury”
Intimacy (2008)
- “The Prayer”
A Weekend in the City (2007)

Without question, this is the track that defines what Bloc Party’s all about. With a back and forth guitar riff, rapid fire drums and an insanely catchy chorus, “Banquet” was what opened the door for Bloc Party to be recognized outside of their native UK, particularly in North America. The track made the top 20 in their home country, and made the top 40 of Billboard’s alternative charts in the States.

Do you agree with our list? Which Bloc Party song is your all-time favorite? With entertaining top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.