Track Listing

1. Nevereverdid
2. It�5
3. Tiny Paintings
4. Wishbone
5. Maybe You Could Owe Me
6. Do The Whirlwind
7. In Case We Die
8. The Cemetery
9. Frenchy, I�m Faking
10. Need To Shout
11. Rendezvous � Potrero Hill
12. What�s In Store
13. Bats And Rats And Murderers

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20016 in Music
• Released on: 2005-09-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks

CD Description
Following up their ambitious 2003 debut just two years later with this similarly complex, challenging set, Australia's Architecture in Helsinki established themselves as purveyorsof tongue-in-cheek prog-rock for people who shudder at the term. Witty lyrics playfully mingle with majestic melodies, voiced on an array of instruments--electronic, orchestral, standard rock--and vocal permutations. The band explores Sparks-infused punkabilly ("The Cemetary"), symphonic cabaret ("Nevereverdid"), slinky pop ("Maybe You Can Owe Me"), and multi-part song cycles that wink as they soar.

Customer Reviews

Nevereverdid
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.

Hel's Bells
There's something undeniably childlike about In Case We Die, the second album from Architecture In Helsinki. Yet, for every propulsive drum beat or gleeful handclap, there's a sad segue or moment of tender guitar playing.

Few bands are able to straddle this line between childhood and adulthood, and to do it, the Melbourne eight-piece take a dizzying detour through genres that even Arcade Fire would struggle to keep up with. On the opener, Neverevereverdid, the listener is sped through opera, classical and jazz before the track collapses in a prog rock meltdown. And all in three minutes, thirty-three seconds. Later, there's the twee mathematics of It's 5 and the cute dance pop of Do The Whirlwind.

And yet, from the album's first sounds - funeral bells ringing - to it's last, the theme of mortality is everywhere (ghosts, cemeteries and reincarnation all feature heavily). The feeling is that we should sing, dance and celebrate now, because it might be the last chance we have.

Nevereverdid!
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.