Top 10 Records of 2005 - Number One

One July 2nd, Mark Ghuniem posted Little Thoughts to my fred’spodcast tag on delicious.

The next morning I went out for a bike ride.  And played the recent songs on fred’spodcast on my iPod.

At some point, Little Thoughts came on.  As the song built, I started to ride faster and faster.  By the end, I was up over 20mph and exhausted.  So I stopped and checked out my iPod.  So began my love affair with Bloc Party and this record, Silent Alarm.

The record starts out with the twang of a guitar, followed by the flutter of the base, and about 30 seconds in the drums kick in and you know right away that you are in for some hard driving rock and roll.

The Gang of Four influences in the vocals and the guitar are unmistakable.  That’s a good thing as far as I am concerned.

But these guys are not some Gang of Four clone band. They are the real deal.  The drums, bass, and guitar, and vocals all seem to be front and center as if there is nothing that can get lost in the mix.

The Gotham Gal and I went to see them play this record live this summer.  And they were even better live.

I can’t wait for their follow up record.

Happy New Year everyone.  Here’s looking to a great 2006.