Sunday 30/10/05 Architecture In Helsinki @ The Barfly, Liverpool

There's a sign on the wall of the Barfly, probably erected by a lawsuit-conscious employee, which reads ‘no stage-diving or crowd-surfing’. At this show, the chances of someone jumping off the stage in a moment of rock-inspired euphoria are slight, given the health-endangering risk of being twatted by one of Architecture in Helsinki’s two trombones.

 

Brass instrument excesses aside, when the band take to the stage tonight, the weirdness of eight Australian nutters hitting triangles, swapping instruments and shouting random gibberish becomes apparent. The Zappa/ Beefheart axis of freakiness is here tonight in excelsis, and although the band’s main contemporaries today are probably The Arcade Fire, don’t expect any chart bothering action from latest AiH release ‘In Case We Die’ – there are some things that are actually too leftfield for mass public consumption.

 

At some stages resembling a brawl in a circus tent, there’s certainly enough going on to keep the audience interested. Problems arise, however, when the music leaps from one style to another with the ease and grace of a three-legged horse leaping over a forty-foot high fence. Time signatures go awry, drums clatter, a man with a Jesus-style beard plays slap bass, someone starts playing Yankee Doodle Dandy on a trombone, and your brain takes time out for some essential maintenance work. Ironically, Architecture in Helsinki are at their best when they ditch the wackiness and stick to more conventional routes – the songwriting has a whimsical quality which appeals to even the most hardened cynic, and at times you wish the band would just play songs without the added distraction of an explosion in a percussion instrument factory.

 

In fact, this is achieved by their records, including single ‘Do The Whirlwind’, which curbs the madness and replaces it with an endearing sense of fun. This is not to say the record is any less weird – the cast of Neighbours this ain’t – but in order to avoid melting synapses, Architecture in Helsinki are probably best enjoyed at a distance, although if you do venture out for one of their shows, have a mug of cocoa and a comfy chair waiting for you – their genre-bending indie jazz workout is enough to drive anyone to a long sit down.