Bloc Party

Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25

Bloc Party’s four members were all in their mid-twenties when they recorded their first two albums Silent Alarm and A Weekend in the City. So the genuine urgency and conviction with which they delivered indie-pop songs on romance and politics deeply resonated with young adults in their home country of Great Britain and those overseas. The band’s third album Intimacy, which was released late last summer, is a far cry from the initial work that earned them a dedicated following. Less post-punk and more dance, it features prominent usage of multilayered vocals and instrumentation a la the Chemical Brothers. It’s also the band’s most personal work to date. On “Trojan Horse” frontman Kele Okereke bitterly observes “You used to take off your watch before we made love” and on “Signs” he mournfully confesses, “I see signs all the time/ That you’re not dead, you’re sleeping/ I believe in anything/ That brings you back home to me.” It’s a stunning effort from a band that’s shifted from shoving their fervor down everyone’s throats to simply pulling them in with a quieter confidence.

Fri., April 24, 7 p.m.; Sat., April 25, 7 p.m., 2009