Architecture In Helsinki - 'Places Like This' (Taliem Bend) Released 13/08/07

So, what are things like over in Australia? It’s obviously a bit out of control if ‘Places Like This’ is anything to judge your opinion of the country on. Of course, with Architecture in Helsinki, the description out of control can only mean good things. The task of following up glowingly praised ‘In Case We Die’, has been more than successful. The exuberant touches to every single track on this album make for the perfect summer soundtrack that we’ve all been waiting for. Several bands have hinted at being the sound of the summer but trust us here, this is the real thing. You’ll only have to listen to lead single ‘Heart It Races’ once to have a similar opinion. With steel drums and cheeky lyrics;” Lately you’ve been tanned, suspicious for the winter”, it’s smiles galore whenever and wherever you’re listening to it. It’s like a safer alternative to prozac, guaranteed to turn your weeping face upside down.

So this all makes for a more than pleasant album to put on when the country stops flooding. However, with the songs having been planned via an instant messenger and having been recorded in 12 days, one could easily deduce that this will be plain-old-unprepared toss! Wrong. Sure, around 25% of the lyrics are “la-la-la’s” and “da-da-da’s”, but for some wonderfully apt reason, Cameron Bird has gotten away with it. Maybe it’s just the right time of year for us to all hear this record, maybe we’ve been hypnotized, drugged up on summer goodness and the love for it all will disappear as our bedrooms get colder, but you may as well love it while you can.

Another undeniable element is the weird factor that doesn’t do well to hide itself in the bands third album. But again, with it being impossible to criticise the joyful sounds that the band have magically conjured up, odd is beautiful. The opening seconds of ‘Like It Or Not’ contain a deeply-toned scream-fest, eventually turning into another dance-fest, and it works. But this album should never be counted as a cult album, or a manifesto to all the new bands with 14 year old wannabe rock stars, because simply, nobody else could dream of getting away with this.

Never before has an album desperately deserved a “Don’t Try This At Home!” sticker on the front of its case. Plus, the live sound that this six-piece have achieved couldn’t be beaten as an advertisement to see a band play before your own eyes. The atmospheric moments in the record are undoubtedly the best. Are there are moments like that in almost every song, highlighting the ability the album has to flow its tracks together. If this really is reminiscent to a live Architecture in Helsinki gig, there couldn’t be a better setlist. And while you may be dancing uncontrollably to the sounds that you hear, when you finally take a breather, the beauty of the whole thing won’t pass you by.