Great point. Kreuzberg and Sunday are kind of like Bloc Party trying U2. Which, I think they're fantastic songs, and SRXT is heartachingly gorgeous as well...I love AWITC, and it's basically tied with In Rainbows as my top album this year. The ballads are definitely different than the earlier Bloc ballads though. Which, personally I think it's great that they tried something different. That's what I love about AWITC. It's still Bloc, but they moved their sound forward a lot.
However, I also agree that there is something very special about the songs you mentioned. Perhaps it's partially nostalgia on my part, cuz those songs hit me at the right time, but I've just been listening to This Modern Love, Blue Light, So Here We Are, and Tulips practically nonstop lately. They are beautiful, beautiful songs and they truly are unique... I do think the drums are a big part of it. But there's also the interaction between two guitar parts. I hardly even noticed the lead guitar in Blue Light when I first heard it, but it's gorgeous. and of course the dreaminess of So Here We Are is all in how the two guitars and bass weave around each other. I think AWITC has a little less of that in its ballads. There is something to be said about the simplicity of the earlier ballads. Having the slick production and loops and such created a different atmosphere on AWITC, for me anyway.
Also, for me the songs Two More Years, Hero, and The Present (beautiful song...if you don't have it, I will send) kind of have a different sound that's a bridge between the two albums (which makes perfect sense, 'cause that's when they were released). They're musically...not boring, but...sparse? It's hard to describe, but in all three of those songs I think the focus is on the beat and Kele's voice. I think maybe part of it is the weird delay effect in the guitar. I like it though.
Basically I love everything Bloc Party has done, ever
they're quite easily in my top 5 bands ever...maybe even top 3. I'm looking forward to what they do next, and wondering how much their fanbase will grow. It was amazing to see them in such small venues twice this year, and I'd love to it again, but I feel like they could light up a stadium with some of the massive sounds on AWITC... how do they do in big festivals? has anyone seen them at one?