Ah, the sweet smell of nostalgia for 2012.
[Video][Website]
[5.50]
Anthony Easton: The libertine edge of pop music, where pleasure is done for pleasure’s sake, has slid into a kind of meta justification for ones desire. The great thing about this trac is that it is meta as hell (pointing out the bpm guarantees that this might be an insiders excercise) but then it just gives up and it becomes a wallow in pure pudding. In it’s wry english way, it becomes an embodiment of Ke$ha et, al, and a parody of what that means for music. It makes it count! (Extra points for how it ratchets it up, for the use of the word ratchet, for the wink at authenticity. for the hand claps, and for the disco lazers set to stun.)
[9]
Patrick St. Michel: The video for “Ratchet” features footage from previous Bloc Party videos cut up and transformed into something new. The actual song, meanwhile, only reflects half of what the clip is doing. It seems like Bloc Party have decided to stop pushing their sound into any new directions, “Ratchet” sounding like the sort of locked-in, urgent rock that would have made for a great outtake from Silent Alarm. Nothing wrong with that decision…this sort of frantic but mechanized music really is what they do best, it’s just that they’ve got it down to a routine at this point. Even though listening to “Ratchet” is enjoyable, I know the moment I close the YouTube tab I’ll never listen to it again because, well, they’ve done this sort of song better before.
[5]
Will Adams: About as annoying as someone who’s replaced “hipster” with “ratchet” as their favorite word.
[3]
Alfred Soto: I suppose there will be people who revere this band’s first album more than I do. Their product since 2005 confirmed why I had reason to feel suspicious: Kele ‘s braying vocals couldn’t negotiate between the maladroit post-punk and their weird post-U2 anthems. They still sound like they have no idea what they’re doing or who their audience is
[4]
Scott Mildenhall: They’ve found Wiley’s Rolex! Kele misplaced it after wearing it for a while a few years ago, and although it’s slightly worn now the main thing is it’s still intact.
[7]
Brad Shoup: There’s a part where Okereke et al sing “hey yeah” and it strongly resembles “Boyfriend”. I’ve scraped the Bloc Party shell so many times and found the scant meat of a rigid interestingly-tuned riff. The guys try to flex with 2013’s new favorite awful appropriation, but their singer’s as unsubstantial as ever. The riff’s entertaining, you could climb it for a few weeks, but you could get it off a Basement Jaxx record.
[5]