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Like Blueberry Boat, this is a triumphant album of good bits.
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Everything on In Case We Die, from the intensely sweet melodies and vocals to the widescreen production, delivers the kind of playful pop majesty that Fingers Crossed's best moments hinted were within Architecture in Helsinki's grasp.
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[A] freedom to push things to extremes is what makes In Case We Die such a thrill ride.
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Armed with more ideas than should probably be legal, Architecture in Helsinki can't be bothered to dwell for too long on any one of them, and it's this fickle nature that will make you either adore them or deplore them.
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Entertainment WeeklyIf the Muppets were ever to make a chamber-pop record, it would probably sound like this. [22 Apr 2005, p.64]
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Even the most hardened, poker-faced purists will crack a smile at AIH's ridiculously catchy, hook-riddled dance-pop.
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New Musical Express (NME)At its most euphoric, 'In Case We Die' is reminiscent of the cast of South Park forming a Polyphonic Spree tribute band after an all-night feast of sugarcubes and E numbers. [13 Aug 2005, p.58]
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Architecture in Helsinki's penchant for simple, driven melodies and gentle, nurturing jam sessions underscore one essential truth about this type of glossy, polyrhythmic music: the thin, bittersweet textures are always anchored to a syncopated bass line.
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Stylistically, In Case We Die is like a Jackson Pollock drip painting, chaotic and bustling.
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Think what you want about its theatricality, its twee --- at base, it’s a technically accomplished album, and if you’re willing to give yourself over to it, or do lots of drugs, a charming ride.
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Under The RadarWhile the general feeling of each song is sort of all over the place, there is a feeling of cohesion thanks to smart instrumentation and overall unconventional arrangements. [#9]
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It's all very sweeping, operatic and inviting.
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Architecture in Helsinki delivers complex, dynamic composition and arrangement in a package that, while not universally digestible, is entertaining for all.
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Cinematic and purposefully clumsy, coy and cutesy and sprawling in intermittence, this is music to prance to.
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The free-for-all collective sound can lend the music a cutesy air, but the intensity of the songs rescues the album from juvenility.
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Sometimes this all-inclusive attitude falls flat, like on the trading male-female vocals of "Tiny Paintings" or the collective shouting that is littered throughout. Yet when everyone harmonizes together on "Maybe You Can Owe Me" and "Do the Whirlwind" it sounds unforced.
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Paste MagazineDelicate despite being epic. [Aug/Sep 2005, p.130]
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MagnetFull of ideas as well as joyful energy. [#68, p.86]
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Home recording gives 'In Case We Die' an apathetic politeness that lacks any real grrrrr, which is a shame.
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Part pep rally, part school-time innocence, In Case We Die is nothing if not full of life and enthusiasm.
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MojoGarishly attractive. [Oct 2005, p.98]
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Rolling StoneThese tracks employ a familiar strategy, piling up shambolic riffs and Belle and Sebastian murmurs until the homespun pitter-patter rolls like a wave and approximates hard-won beauty. [24 Mar 2005, p.79]
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UncutThough straining at times under its rhapsodic pretensions, at its best it's an ambitious symphonic spree. [Oct 2005, p.100]
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For the most part, "In Case We Die" tries so hard to be fun it is almost no fun at all.
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It sounds like a cross between Off the Wall-era Michael Jackson without the soul, the Banana Splits, the Grease soundtrack and shitty disco records.
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SpinSpastically twee, painfully saccharine. [Jun 2005, p.108]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 30 out of 35
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Mixed: 4 out of 35
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Negative: 1 out of 35
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calvinhobbesNov 15, 2005One of my last favourite albums. And I think it will play for a long time on my dj sets.
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NickNov 10, 2005
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JoshSep 16, 2005