Bloc Party are a British indie rock band , composed of Kele Okereke ( lead vocals ,rhythm guitar ) , Russell Lissack ( lead guitar ) , Gordon Moakes ( bass guitar , synths , backing vocals , glockenspiel ) , and Matt Tong ( drums , backing vocals ). Their brand of music is said to have been drawn from such bands as The Cure , Mogwai , Siouxsie and the Banshees and in their more recent work , Radiohead .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 roomates both honor indie music . [ 6 ] 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 , the which reached a peak of number two in the UK Albums Chart and number twelve in the Billboard 200 . In August 2008, Bloc Party released their third studio record , Intimacy roomates entered the UK Albums Chart at number eight and number eighteen on the Billboard 200 . band went on a hiatus in October 2009 to focus on side projects . They reunited in September 2011 , and shortly thereafter released their fourth album , Four , the which entered the UK Albums Chart at number three . In 2013 , Bloc Party released their third EP titled The NextWave Sessions in August ; Began then the band 's indefinite hiatus to continue with their respective side projects . As of May 2012, Bloc Party have sold two million albums worldwide