In Case We Die - Architecture in Helsinki

It's hard to imagine where bands like Born Ruffians and Los Campenos! (and maybe even the black kids) would be without this record. I think this album bought a lot of fun and exuberance back into music that wasn't there previously, and is now everywhere - in abundance. The record kicks off as it means to go on, with playful melodies, harmonies and instrumentation of nevereverdid. It's five is an instant pop classic, reminding me of madness or split enz at their best.... Wishbone comes in like a bubblegum pop-punk classic, before twisting the same melody around a totally different harmony and arrangement and disappearing before you knew ...  Read the complete review

For their first album, the charming "Fingers Crossed", Architecture In Helsinki propelled themselves into the music industry with all the enthusiasm of a bunch of "overexcited preschoolers", as I described them (check out me reviewz!!). Their music was inspired by bands like The Beach Boys, taking the breezy lite-rock music that Brian's boys used to put out and twisting it by making the whole thing sound like it had been recorded by a school choir, replacing guitars with glockenspiels and mellotrons with a bloke who played a recorder. For their second album, "In Case We Die", the Aussie band have grown up. But don't fear, all ye who liked ...  Read the complete review