Moment Bends
by Architecture in Helsinki
  • Record Label: Downtown
  • Release Date: May 3, 2011
Metascore
61

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 14
  3. Negative: 1 out of 14
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  1. Absolute Punk (Staff reviews)
    May 4, 2011
    85
    The regression in complexity seems to underscore the band's endorsement of arrested development as the secret to eternal youth. Their perpetual glee suggests that maybe they're onto something.
  2. Beats Per Minute
    Apr 29, 2011
    76
    Consistently being an upbeat adult isn't exactly an easy thing to do and at least here the band show that they can mature without having to completely forget who they once were.
  3. Paste Magazine
    May 4, 2011
    72
    The record plays like an old mixtape: a few songs you dig, a few you forget, and two or three you can't stop playing, that you can't keep from becoming part of a night the pictures can't do justice, of a packed dance-floor, of a girl you didn't kiss, of a midnight drive.
  5. PopMatters
    Aug 30, 2011
    70
    The album is musically in the vein of future island funk/disco meeting '80s synth-pop.
  6. Alternative Press
    May 16, 2011
    70
    There are a kit if sounds present, but the band manage to make them come together as one. [Jun 2011, p.106]
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  7. AllMusic
    May 4, 2011
    70
    Overall Moment Bends is a return to form, if not quite as inspired as Architecture in Helsinki's best moments.
  8. Pitchfork
    May 2, 2011
    65
    Places Like This proved that Architecture in Helsinki could grow out of their early sound without growing tame, that they could change their voice but keep their charm; Moment Bends too often finds them losing one, the other, or both.
  9. Under The Radar
    May 6, 2011
    60
    Never afraid to cop a new style or try something that might not work, Architecture in Helsinki has thrown listeners for a loop yet again.
  10. Drowned In Sound
    May 2, 2011
    60
    My problem is that AIH don't really give much away. There isn't any real personality on show. It could be any musicians.
  11. The A.V. Club
    May 3, 2011
    58
    The new record goes too far toward buffing out the quirks of its predecessor, mistaking studio compression and unexciting genre exercises for more focused songwriting.
  12. Slant Magazine
    Apr 29, 2011
    50
    After several listens, it's still not entirely clear what Moment Bends is striving to be, or, for that matter, what its creators are trying to say with it.
  13. Q Magazine
    May 16, 2011
    40
    Unfortunately, too many of their other choruses aim high yet fall flat. [May 2011, p.109]
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  14. Uncut
    May 2, 2011
    40
    Unfortunately it ends up as the kind of glossily produced "perfect pop" you can spin a dozen times without ever remembering a single tune. [May 2011, p.77]
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  15. Consequence
    May 16, 2011
    30
    It's always admirable when an artist or a band attempts to create a piece of music that differs from what came before. Unfortunately for Architecture in Helsinki, their new work fails as a cohesive whole, salvaged only by two or three songs here and there.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. MetaCriticool
    Jun 17, 2019
    10
    This is a great album which grows to near-perfection upon several listens. Definitely under-rated.
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