   bloc party are a british indie rock band, composed of kele okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), russell lissack (lead guitar), and gordon moakes (bass guitar, synths, backing vocals, glockenspiel). former member matt tong (drums, backing vocals) left the band in 2013. their brand of music, whilst rooted in rock, retains elements of other genres such as electronica and house music. the band was formed at the 1999 reading festival by okereke and lissack. they went through a variety of names before settling on bloc party in 2003. moakes joined the band after answering an advert in nme magazine, while tong was picked via an audition. bloc party got their break by giving bbc radio 1 dj steve lamacq and franz ferdinand's lead singer, alex kapranos, a copy of their demo "she's hearing voices". in february 2005, the band released their debut album silent alarm. it was critically acclaimed and was named indie album of the year at the 2006 plug awards and nme album of the year which both honour indie music. that year, the record was also certified platinum in britain. the band built on this success in 2007 with the release of their second studio album, a weekend in the city, which reached a peak of number two in the uk albums chart and number twelve in the [[billboard 200|billboar
2003_establishments_in_England Alternative_dance_musical_groups Atlantic_Records_artists Bloc_Party English_indie_rock_groups Musical_groups_established_in_2003 Musical_groups_from_London Musical_quartets Post-Britpop_groups Post-punk_revival_music_groups