Architecture In Helsinki: Places Like This

Architecture In Helsinki
Places Like This
Polyvinyl

Among the laughably pretentious swarms of stupidly named, experimental indie-pop collectives floating around out there, Architecture In Helsinki always seemed like the most fun. This gang of oddball Aussies (surprise, they’re not Finnish!) emerged in 2004, wielding tubas and clarinets and sounding a bit like a jungle tribe of children playing Belle & Sebastian songs. Their 2005 album, In Case We Die, was one of the year’s best, featuring the sort of stellar melodicism that is too often abandoned by similarly adventurous bands.

Not surprisingly, then, expectations were high for AIH’s third effort, Places Like This, an album that is likely to leave many listeners feeling the type of subtle discomfort usually associated with watching the E! Network.

Right from the get go, things just don’t feel right in Helsinkiland. Kickoff track “Red Turned White” cops the cowbell from Nazareth’s “Hair of the Dog” before morphing into a Thomas Dolby/Pacman mash-up. Frontman Cameron Bird never had the greatest voice in the world, but his Isaac Brock-like yelping isn’t helping here, either.

Things improve with “Heart It Races,” which harkens back to some of the band’s earlier tropical pop romps, but as the album progresses, the persistent, silly abrasiveness of the dance-driven tunes becomes a bit draining. Even a solid Talking Heads-ish track like “Lazy” is balanced out by a string of songs that would be more at home in the hands of a novelty dance-rock band like the Electric Six. It just . . . doesn’t . . . quite . . . work.

(Andrew Clayman)


Published in The Knoxville Voice, July 2007