ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI (London Koko, 10/09/07)



Sometimes less is just less. Having discarded their lorry-load of instruments and two members since their last album, hyperactive Australians Architecture in Helsinki have struggled to capture the madcap brilliance of their previous work. Whilst their Leeds show in 2005 was an absolute blinder, their effort at KCLSU in June was an upsettingly bland affair, shorn of the creativity and child-like joy of old. However, I was willing to give them another chance, and I have to say things have got better, if not as much as once could have hoped.

The first third of the set didn't bode well, relying too much on new material with lusterless results. Sure, they’re more proficient musicians nowadays, but compared to the idiosyncratic, wonderfully creative old-style shows with their constant instrument swapping and huge range of sounds they couldn’t help but seem a little dreary with their uninspired new set-up. Thankfully about the 25-minute mark they suddenly found their groove, loosened up a bit and started to channel the screwball spirit of old-school AiH, to the benefit of all concerned. Frontman Cameron Bird, prone to taking himself far too seriously actually engaged in banter with the audience, the band started to look like they were enjoying themselves and they unleashed the songs everyone wanted to hear- Frenchy I’m Faking, It 5, The Cemetery and a completely mental Nevereverdid, which happily erased memories of the lacklustre rendition a few months back. If only they hadn’t gutted their centrepiece single Do The Whirlwind, replacing its fantastic singalong outro (one of my all-time gig highlights when they played it in ’05) with an instrumental jam, completely killing the excellent atmosphere in the process. Coming so precariously close to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, they managed to finish on a high with the marvellous Heart It Races, which got everyone singing along to its stupidly infectious chant of “BOOM-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA, BOOM-DA-DA-DA-DA!” If only all their new songs were so gleeful, then AiH would still be unmissable. As it stands now, they’re merely enjoyable, nothing more.