In the very beginning of 2007 a touching trip rock song called "The Prayer" made its way into TV and airwaves all over the world, turning its creators into a total smash hit. The word goes about Bloc Party - a quartet from Essex, UK, built up of guitarist Russell Lissack, bassist Gordon Moakes and drummer Matt Tong and fronted by the Liverpool-born Nigerian vocalist and guitar player Kelechukwu "Kele" Okereke. The above-mentioned tune is probably literally the most outstanding track on "A Weekend in the City" - Bloc Party's second full-length album, released by Wichita Recordings (home of acts like The Cribs, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, etc.). Another thing that should be mentioned by all means is that the follow-up to the four-piece's 2005 debut "Silent Alarm" was produced by Jacknife Lee, known for his job for Snow Patrol, Kasabian and, most of all, U2's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" (2004), for which he was awarded a Grammy and... Actually, mentioning U2, we cannot avoid noticing a bit of their influence in Bloc Party's songs, next to lots of Placebo-esque intrusions and tons of The Cure reminiscences, especially regarding the vocals. To put it short, that's what the 11 cuts on the CD are about - indie rock with a strong wave-ish feel and a bit of trip hop (mainly because of Mr. Lee's additional keys and programming, to be honest), however presented in an extremely variable way. As already hinted, "The Prayer" is the most electronic and "trippy" track on "A Weekend in the City". We've also got a semi-heartbreaking effort (the closing "SRXT"), plus a pair of experimental audio-pearls featuring a real string sextet ("On" and "Where Is Home?"). The rest is as diverse and vital as... a weekend in the city, let's say - starting with the opening duo "Song for Clay" and "Hunting for Witches", passing via my personal favourite "Uniform", and on through "Sunday" and the second single "I Still Remember"... In other words - an almost brilliant piece of present-day urban rock music.