The blokes are back in town

Rock's cyclical nature demands that, every few years or so, a fresh crop of lean lads in mod haircuts will storm our shores to reinvigorate rock with cocksure pop hooks, unflappable egos, and an encyclopedic knowledge of music from Robert Johnson to Dr. Dre.

Certainly, nothing is ever likely to match -- or so dominate the American musical imagination -- as the original British Invasion, which transformed rock through such bands as the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Beatles, and later Led Zeppelin. Yet, the United Kingdom remains a hothouse of smart young bands that want to duplicate stateside the kind of critical and commercial success they've achieved at home.

If the pop music prognosticators are to be believed, 2005 could be a breakout year for several new British bands. Exhibiting influences including post-punk (Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs), American indie rock (Futureheads, Razorlight); New Wave (Dogs Die in Hot Cars), and even Southern rock (22-20s), their music is redefining alternative rock with the kind of no-fuss sound revived in recent years by such American bands as the Strokes and White Stripes.

On the flip side, some of the new bands, most prominently Kasabian, are also inspired by such distinctly British acts as Primal Scream, the Stone Roses, and Happy Mondays, who deftly blended guitar rock and pop with club beats.

''Bands make a splash over there, and it reverberates on these shores. What they're doing is writing good songs and doing something different," said Bart Blasengame, a senior writer for Details. He included Bloc Party among the four up-and-coming musical acts in the magazine's Next Big Thing feature in the current issue (the others are Keren Ann, Calla, and Ray LaMontagne, none of whom are British).

''There's lots of pop on radio, and there's an attempt among these rock bands to make an impact on charts and album sales. People are making rock again, and it makes it easier for bands like Bloc Party and Kaiser Chiefs to make an impact over here."

Already making that impact is Franz Ferdinand, a Scottish quartet named for the Austrian archduke whose assassination in 1914 ignited World War I. The band's self-titled debut produced one of last year's best singles, ''Take Me Out," a rock song with an unironic disco swing. Such fearlessness -- UK artists have always been more comfortable embracing the dance-floor possibilities of rock than their American counterparts -- instantly separated the group's music from most other bands. Seemingly overnight, it went from unknowns to sharing the stage at the Grammys with Maroon 5, Los Lonely Boys, Gwen Stefani, and the Black Eyed Peas.

In the late 1990s, when rock was dominated by rap-metal bands such as Limp Bizkit, it would have been nearly impossible for a band like Franz Ferdinand to find commercial success. Yet by the early 21st century, that lumbering, redundant noise that was rap-rock began to fade, clearing the way for American neo-garage bands and their straight-ahead approach to modern rock.

''I think it all goes back to the Strokes and the White Stripes who reopened the door," said Keith Dakin, assistant programming director for WFNX-FM (101.7). In recent weeks, WFNX has been playing Bloc Party's ''Banquet" and Kaiser Chiefs' ''I Predict a Riot," which Dakin said, is one of the station's most requested songs. ''You have a band like the Killers, who are from here, that have been huge, and then you have a band like Franz Ferdinand who has been gigantic, too," he maintained. ''So all these other bands are following in that sound or tradition."

For their part, the bands resist being tossed under trendy headings. Fads do not necessarily translate into long careers, and swarms of highly touted British bands have floundered and failed to click in America. It was just two years ago when such groups as Fiction Plane, Feeder, the Libertines, and the Coral were supposed to storm the charts, but they quickly fizzled. At times, it's tough for bands to live up to the hype. And then there's also a possibility that with so many British bands out right now, they could wind up canceling each other out.

To hear clips by 22-20s, Kaiser Chiefs, Kasabian, Dogs Die in Hot Cars, and Bloc Party, go to boston.com/ae/music.

''You can hear about the Next Big Thing long before you ever actually hear the album," Blasengame said. ''That's the nature of the beast. But most of these guys are for real and have been making music for a while in their native country."

That's the case with Bloc Party, a London quartet expected to be this year's successor to Franz Ferdinand, which was nominated last year for three Grammys, including best alternative album. After releasing a demo in 2003, Bloc Party's music and performances began garnering attention, leading to its first full-length album, ''Silent Alarm."

''We didn't want to do anything more than put down the songs we had," Bloc Party bassist Gordon Moakes said. ''These are songs we've had since the beginning of the band through last July. We just wanted to do these songs justice, and record them in the best way we could." The band plays a sold-out show at the Paradise on Tuesday.

As for the influx of British bands, Moakes says it's more a coincidence than the result of ''a scene" in England.

''We're just doing our own thing, which is what we've always done. I don't know if there's anything in particular going on, but there's definitely a resurgence, and an interest there."

Like a number of other British bands, Bloc Party is currently in America promoting its debut. On the day of this interview, Moakes was on a cellphone on a tour bus, somewhere between Vancouver and Minneapolis. (''It's a really epic drive," he said with an endearing combination of humor and exhaustion.) Grueling tour schedules can shatter even seasoned rock vets, and for British bands, most of whom are young and haven't traveled extensively, the only way to conquer America is to make sure it doesn't conquer them.

''The problem for lots of bands who come over is the enormity of our country. It's hard to tour here," Blasengame said. ''You can get big in England pretty quick because it's a small country, but over here the distance between New York and LA is a long way. And then the heartland isn't always kind to experimental or different music. It's a crapshoot."

Serge Pizzorno, lead guitarist and chief songwriter for Kasabian, acknowledged the difficulties in trying to break through in America. Even Oasis, which debuted near the top of the Billboard album chart in 1995 with its second album, ''(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" found its stateside success aborted when it abruptly canceled, after a few dates, its tour the following year. (At the time singer Liam Gallagher was quoted as saying, ''It was just that we got sick of touring." But band infighting also exacted a fierce toll.) The group has yet to regain a significant hold in America, though that could change with the release of its latest album, ''Don't Believe the Truth," later this year. (The band will also tour, including a June 24 stop at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield.)

Talking about making an impact in the states, Pizzorno said, ''It's [expletive] hard work, it really is. It's such a big place, and it takes up so much of your time. You have to do a thousand interviews, a thousand photos, and a thousand radio shows, and after a while you get in the zone of, like, 'What on earth am I doing?' But if you can somehow get through it, there will be a point where you won't need to do that anymore. And if you make it, that's everything."