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Bloc Party has always had that underlying British vibe to its music. Lead singer, Kelechukwu Okereke weaves his accent into Bloc Party lyrics, and the band’s “The Nextwave Sessions” EP is no exception. The EP contains five songs the band has already been playing live for months–so for all you religious Bloc Party followers you can now have these live tracks in a studio version.

The band wasn’t trying anything new with this EP, but were really just looking to release more music to fans. “The Nextwave Sessions” opens with the energetic “Ratchet” that has a dance-ready beat.Okereke’s distinct vocals pop in quickly at the front of the track, introducing a hip-hop vibe to the song. The fast paced lyrics hits are the perfect tempo for a dance club song.

Flipping in the entirely opposite direction, “Obscene,” is slow and mellow, with Okereke crooning out the lyrics. It’s too slow though. It’s nearly impossible to concentrate on it, it’s so sleepy. The track sounds like it was intended to be dreamy and thoughtfully melancholy over lost love, but ends up dragging on.

“Montreal” is also on the slower side of the album. A beat is tapped out lightly in the background, which helps keep the pace up just a bit.

“Children of the Future” closes the album, and the vocals get a little deeper, and are pushed more than the tracks in the middle of “The Nextwave Sessions.” The EP wasn’t intended to shatter any boundaries for Bloc Party. It was made for the fans to enjoy songs they had already seen live, but probably not for the masses.

Grade: C-