It was a busy week in SPIN.com-land, as we deployed our fearless rock'n'roll vagabond Zack on the road with Radiohead; hosted a stream of the entire new LP from Heavy Heavy Low Low; and debuted tracks from the Verve, Mercury Rev, and School of Seven Bells, among others. Check out this week's booty below:

Like Beck and the Raconteurs before them, Brit post-punk outfit Bloc Party are challenging the industry status quo, announcing the release of their new album less than week before it's set to arrive. That's right, Intimacy, the quartet's third full-length to date, will drop globally this Thursday, Aug. 21 as a digital download.

As we noted in our live review from earlier this week, Bloc Party seems reenergized by their new material, like new single "Mercury." And while that was truly a set highlight during their afternoon romp on Virgin Mobile Festival's South Stage, Silent Alarm favorites carried the day, particularly a rousing version of

Lowered expectations don't always guarantee a band will deliver a satisfying show. Such was British post-post-punkers Bloc Party's plight last night during a sold-out show at New York City's famed Webster Hall.

Bloc Party's new video has surfaced online -- and it's a creepy, dudes-in-animal-heads clip accompanying presumed new single, "Mercury." Problem is, details about the band's forthcoming release are scarce at best. Here's the video, and scroll down past it to read what we do know about the new Bloc Party material.