Photo courtesy of last.fm/music/Bloc+Party
Is it just me, or is Bloc Party, more than any other band, composed of band members who look like they could easily be Stanford students? I recall the drummer from when I saw them at Lollapalooza two years ago resembling the typically malnourished CS major.
Photo courtesy of last.fm/music/delphic
Their appearance isn’t really important, though. What is (or was) important is their distinct style. Whether it’s a good thing or not, I can’t help but notice other bands piggy-backing off of their once revolutionary sound.
The first “sound-a-like” I noticed was the vocals at 5:18 or so of Delphic’s “Counterpoint.” On top of being the best song from “Acolyte,” my reason for listening to it repeatedly was also to figure out which Bloc Party song it reminded me of (kudos to my brother for cracking the case). Turns out it’s “So Here We Are” at about 2:52. Bloc Party sings “I’ve figured it out” whereas Delphic shouts “Today” but I think there is not doubt one inspired the other. All of Delphic’s album reminds me of Bloc Party, but I hope no one gets the impression that I’m disappointed; I can’t stop listening to “Acolyte” at the moment.
Photo courtesy of last.fm/music/hot+chip
My second case of a Bloc Party “sound-a-like” was even more shocking. I heard Hot Chip’s “The Warning” for the first time on Saturday night, and couldn’t believe I wasn’t listening to Bloc Party’s “Signs.” I think they are so similar I shouldn’t even have to explain how. As it turns out, though, this time it was Hot Chip’s song that preceded Bloc Party’s by about 2 years.
Delphic – Counterpoint (download)
Bloc Party – So Here We Are (download)
Hot Chip – The Warning (download)
Bloc Party – Signs (download)
treeswingers 
Nice post. I often find comparisons like this interesting and it is a shame how derivative modern music and bands can be sometimes. Nonetheless Bloc Party are tops, especially the stuff of their first album.
Nice blog overall.
‘One Life Stand’ Album review now up on http://www.the-fly.co.uk
http://www.the-fly.co.uk/words/reviews/album-reviews/6866/album-review:-hot-chip
2 ways:
1 – either you are very attentive and analytical-minded music lover
or 2 – you are crazy 🙂
but – very nice remarks, really! (I’ve never noticed them)
man look at all this traffic!
fwiw I much prefer “Clarion Call”, “This Momentary”, and “Acolyte” to Counterpoint. quality (if limited) album on the whole though.
Strange you should mention that, because one of the angry Gallagher brothers “insulted” Bloc Party a few years back by saying that they looked like they were “blokes on University Challenge [British university quiz show]”. Kele coolly responded that it was Oasis who had made stupidity fashionable. Clear winner.
Ah, but what about the origins of Bloc Party’s sound/approach? There’s many options. cheers!
the part from that delphonic song has many similarities from other songs. I don’t know who invented that little chord progression/ melody/ whatever but its also in a few M83 songs (We Own The Sky particularly) but its also kinda similar to that Star’s song Ageless Beauty. They’re all way different in their own way but seem to have really similar elements.
Signs is a much better song than The Warning, and can you blame Bloc Party for being the (possible) inspiration for these new artists?
Nice find with the similarites in Counterpoint and So Here We Are 🙂
Signs is such a great song. And Bloc Party has a lot of goodies. But this post was really interesting… and insightful. Thanks for the post!
Great post, I noticed the comparison between Bloc Party’s Signs and Hot Chip’s The Warning a while ago. Two great bands two great songs. Love the Delphic album but they havent done anything since!!