Architecture In Helsinki - In Case We Die (Moshi Moshi) album review

Somewhere in the Antipodes, Architecture In Helsinki are rubbing their hands and cackling "pigeonhole that, motherfuckers!". This glorious, fascinating album is all over the place, and all the better for it. The deranged work of a core of eight Melbournians – assisted by up to thirty-bleedin'-two others on instruments as varied as bassoon and power saw – In Case We Die would be a meandering mess of hippie nonsense, were it not for the aforementioned core's knack for a wriggling, squealing pop tune. They joyfully plunder half-melodies from Christmas carols ('What’s In Store') and UB40 songs ('The Cemetery'), and ejaculate weird, thoroughly delightful songs like The Arcade Fire happy-slapping Ennio Morricone and Paul Simon on an ice-rink, in a fairground, on a beach, underground, in space. It's a bewildering but beguiling experience, and I'm recommending it to everyone I meet.

Charlie Ivens

originally appeared in The Fly magazine, August 2005 issue