Customer Reviews

In Case We Die

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Smash together the Fiery Furnaces and the Arcade Fire, with a dash of the Polyphonic Spree's tweeness. That pretty much describes the sound of Architecture in Helsinki's second album, "In Case We Die." Well, fortunately these guys don't suffer from the sophomore slump.

This octet hails from Melbourne, but they sound a lot like the Furnaces, with their adventurous everything-but-the-kitchen-sink pop, handclaps and unpretentious bits and bobs. It's obvious from the start that this is no typical catchy pop album -- "Nevereverdid" is a bouncy maelstrom of twee guitar, desperate vocals and a shouted chorus.

"It'5" continues that trend, but then things switch gears into gently cluttered ballads -- expect piano, drums and accordion -- and unabashedly weird pop tunes with tambourines, synth, horns and rippling piano. There's even an Indian-flavoured ska/dance tune. All bets are off. All rules are broken here, and the results are never predictable.

Perhaps Architecture In Helsinki is often compared to the Fiery Furnaces because neither band fits easily into one category. "In Case We Die" is a head-scratcher -- it's too grounded to be twee, too bizarre to be pop, too soft to be rock, too straightforward to be psychedelica. And despite odd bits of new wave, there's no retro sound either.

Whatever it is, it's apparently dedicated to being fun and whimsical. Their pop music would be fun just because of its catchiness, but this band throws in every little pop flourish imaginable, and apparently every instrument they could get their hands on. One would expect a disaster, but somehow they manage to link all those sounds together.

A few songs initially seem over-the-top in their bubblegumness, but they manage to veer off into playfulness instead. Especially since none of the lyrics make sense -- except for the slightly dark finale ("Carve your name into my arm/cos I long to feel your name blood red"), the songwriting is what Lewis Carroll would have written, if he had been in a rock band. "Tonight the neon answers flare./Occasionally we stop and stare/past tiny paintings painted where/all the clouds were wrong."

A glorious little album full of crazy-quilt pop, "In Case We Die" is a triumph of indiepop insanity. It's crazy and lovin' it.

'In Case We Die' is the second full length album from Architecture in Helsinki, an underground favorite that critics don't like to admit they like. Not that I blame the critics; half the songs sound like the theme song for a children's cartoon. 'It'5', for instance, gives you the mental image of a bunch of ten year olds doing cartwheels in a playground. After the bubblegum-sounding verses, when the band screams shrilly in unison 'IT'S 5!' sounds like this is when they do the obligatory shot of the full cast smiling toward the camera. Many tracks have lightspeed vocals over fluffy piano melodies, and the lead vocalist sounds like a voice actor for Sesame Street. This *will* annoy a lot of listeners, but those it doesn't annoy should be able to enjoy the screwy playfulness of the whole affair, so long as they can open their mind to the possibility of enjoying such frivelous sounding music. There are also tracks such as 'In Case We Die (Parts 1-4)' that sound sort of like 80's bubblegum pop if those bands knew how to play instruments and were ten times more creative in capturing and embracing the youthfulness of the music they tried to play. I'm not saying you'll like this album, but if you could ever like an album that sounds like this, you'll love it.

Musical honey that drips out of the universal beehive and pours into your head, coating both lobes of the brain

in a syrup of heart warming childhood melodies.

Architecture In Helsinki's album, In Case We Die, makes me happy in the fact that I never have to take

my ability of hearing for granted.

This band knows how to pull on your heartstrings, but not in an epic cinematic depressing way, that The Flaming Lips and

Mercury Rev somehow manage to create, but more emotionally epic in a happy and upbeat way within its catchiness.

The instrumental musicallity of this album could've replaced the soundtrack to Forrest Gump or American Beauty and I gurantee people would've walked

away from those movies touched on both ends of the emotinoal spectrum.

Extreme happiness and depression fused into one. That is the cure for life. The abitlity to balance yourelf out emotionally

and in spiritual ways that combine with the equilirbrium of nature and the earth.

Architecture In Helsinki has saved the world.

Another great offering from the Aussie kids. Once you hear it a few more times you realize that the music is more complex than it sounds. Great fun!

Architecture is now officially one of my top five favorite bands. I think I have heard a lot of bands, too. Their music, on the surface, sounds childlike, but listen closer and you can here an incredibly complex compilation of instruments which congeal into a "simple" sound. In other words, this is one tight band. I just saw them live in SF, and I can safely say it was the best concert I have ever been to. They have so much fun with their music that it oozes from every note of their album. "In Case We Die" is much more ambitious then "Fingers Crossed", but they pull off an excellent collection of songs which are universally catchy and endlessly entertaining to listen to. The biggest complaint that one will read about the album is that there is an enormous amount of creative and beautiful ideas in each song which are expressed once and never show up again, except when you listen to the song all the way through once more. This makes for a high degree of replayability for the album, because it almost seems like you're hearing it for the first time everytime.

I bought this today out of shear desperation for something new to listen to. I have never previously heard, or heard about AIH until I was thumbin' through the CD's at my local record shop. The artwork really caught my eye because it looks like indie - and I've been craving indie lately. For those of you asking yourself, WTF???, I usually use a little more intelligence when picking out new music, but this time, the artwork spoke to me... :P

At any rate, I wasnt let down. This is another VERY creative indie release with a very diverse arrangment that includes tubas, trumpets, violas, cowbells, marimbas and so-forth, in addition to the standard issue guitars, drums, bass, piano, keys. There are some really catchy tunes (just love "Maybe You Can Owe Me"!!!). There are many songs with changing tempos, which tells me they're not always chained to a click track. One of the female singers reminds me of Bow Wow Wow...has that sort of punky "HEY!, get outa my face!" charisma.

LOL! I have to agree with Chad about some of the songs sounding like they're made for children TV shows. But it's very fun to listen to! You can't have a frown on your face listening to AIH, it's just impossible.

Recommended for anyone. Check it out, I dare you!

Smash together the Fiery Furnaces and the Arcade Fire, with a dash of the Polyphonic Spree's tweeness. That pretty much describes the sound of Architecture in Helsinki's second album, "In Case We Die." Well, fortunately these guys don't suffer from the sophomore slump.

This octet hails from Melbourne, but they sound a lot like the Furnaces, with their adventurous everything-but-the-kitchen-sink pop, handclaps and unpretentious bits and bobs. It's obvious from the start that this is no typical catchy pop album -- "Nevereverdid" is a bouncy maelstrom of twee guitar, desperate vocals and a shouted chorus.

"It'5" continues that trend, but then things switch gears into gently cluttered ballads -- expect piano, drums and accordion -- and unabashedly weird pop tunes with tambourines, synth, horns and rippling piano. There's even an Indian-flavoured ska/dance tune. All bets are off. All rules are broken here, and the results are never predictable.

Perhaps Architecture In Helsinki is often compared to the Fiery Furnaces because neither band fits easily into one category. "In Case We Die" is a head-scratcher -- it's too grounded to be twee, too bizarre to be pop, too soft to be rock, too straightforward to be psychedelica. And despite odd bits of new wave, there's no retro sound either.

Whatever it is, it's apparently dedicated to being fun and whimsical. Their pop music would be fun just because of its catchiness, but this band throws in every little pop flourish imaginable, and apparently every instrument they could get their hands on. One would expect a disaster, but somehow they manage to link all those sounds together.

A few songs initially seem over-the-top in their bubblegumness, but they manage to veer off into playfulness instead. Especially since none of the lyrics make sense -- except for the slightly dark finale ("Carve your name into my arm/cos I long to feel your name blood red"), the songwriting is what Lewis Carroll would have written, if he had been in a rock band. "Tonight the neon answers flare./Occasionally we stop and stare/past tiny paintings painted where/all the clouds were wrong."

A glorious little album full of crazy-quilt pop, "In Case We Die" is a triumph of indiepop insanity. It's crazy and lovin' it.

Architecture In Helsinki are the future of pop music. Once thrown into the unhelpful "twee pop" category, these eight multi-instrumentalists have really hit their stride on "In Case We Die." In fact, I think it's the best pop album released thus far in 2005.

AIH throw in everything AND the kitchen sink to produce this music. By turns funky, introspective, hook-laden, shout-ridden, acoustic, and just plain wacky, "In Case We Die" manages to make perfect sense. "Do the Whirlwind" is perhaps the first song to captures one's imagination - a mostly straightforward Tom Tom Club-ish dance track in terms of its rather simple but infectious melody and beat. "Mostly" applies to every song on this album; few tracks can prevent themselves from veering in at least a couple of opposing directions. "Tiny Paintings" starts with a sweet, almost pathetic, tuba-and-percussion duet, slowly adding layers of vocals and instruments so that its cry of "Why? why? why?" becomes an affecting anthem by the end. "Frenchy I'm Faking" is a stuttering pop gem with tight horns and a simple sing-along chorus of "pa pa pa"s that you just have to join in with.

Architecture in Helsinki are following their muse wherever it takes them, regardless of the consequences, and clearly enjoying every minute of it. I enjoyed practically every minute as well, once I let go of my preconceptions. They're also a blast to see live, with a sound guy who gets amazing results from having so many instruments on stage.

I bought it almost a year ago and pretty much dismissed it as too cutesy to take seriously. Recently I was aching for some good, new music to break my end-of-winter slump, and In Case We Die did the trick. After listening to it a few more times, I realized how truly impressive it really is. Sure, it's full of fun, high energy, twee pop goodness, but it's also so much more. The complex arrangements of some of the songs and the dizzying array of beautifully played instruments give In Case We Die a depth that might not be perceived after only one or two listens.

I like almost every track on this album, and all for different reasons. 'It's 5!' was my early favorite - it's hard not to smile at this strange and catchy little tune. 'Maybe You Can Owe Me' is an all around terrific song that is a bit slower than many of the others on this album and really demonstrates the beauty in Architecture In Helsinki's musical layering. I think it would easily stand up to any pop song playing on the radio today ... and kick its [...]!

If you like different, interesting (and yes, sometimes even cute) music, you should definitely buy this album. If you already own it and are still trying to figure out what all the hype is all about, try listening to it again. I find that when I am in the right mood, little appeals to me more than In Case We Die!

This band is from Melbourne. They are like the Australian Arcade Fire. I wrote about them last year and mentioned that they were good. They are a little like Polyphonic Spree with a few less members. Some songs are more punk rock and wild. All the songs are equally great. This is a band that is going somewhere.