In Case We Die is the second studio album by Australian indie pop band Architecture in Helsinki which was released on 5 April 2005. It was produced by band members James Cecil and Cameron Bird under their other moniker, The Carbohydrates. In Case We Die appeared on the ARIA Albums Chart Top 100.

In Case We Die
Studio album by
Released5 April 2005 (2005-04-05)
Recorded21 June 2004 – 26 January 2005
StudioSuper Melody World
GenreIndie pop
Length40:04
LabelTailem Bend/Inertia, Bar/None, Moshi Moshi
ProducerThe Carbohydrates (James Cecil, Cameron Bird)
Architecture in Helsinki chronology
Fingers Crossed
(2003)
In Case We Die
(2005)
We Died, They Remixed
(2006)

At the J Award of 2005, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year.[1]

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2005, the album received three nominations ARIA Award for Best Independent Release, ARIA Award for Best Cover Art and ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Release.

Background edit

In 2005, Australian band, Architecture in Helsinki, issued their second album In Case We Die on their own Tailem Bend label (distributed by Inertia Records).[2][3] The ensemble consisted of eight members:[3] Cameron Bird on lead vocals, guitars, and percussion;[4][5] James Cecil on drums, backing vocals, guitars, keyboards;[4][6] Gus Franklin on trombone, horns, guitar, backing vocals and drums;[7] Isobel Knowles on trumpet, horns, vocals;[4][8] Jamie Mildren on instrumentation, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, flute, glockenspiel, and melodica;[4][9] Sam Perry on slide guitar, vocals, bass guitar, drums, keyboards;[10] Tara Shackell on instrumentation, tuba, trombone, keyboards;[4][11] and Kellie Sutherland on clarinet, melodica, horns, vocals, keyboards.[4][12]

It featured guest appearances by local musicians and was produced by The Carbohydrates (Cecil and Bird's production duo) in Cecil's Super Melody World studio, which was set up in a large garage space in Melbourne's inner northern suburbs. It was mixed by Tony Espie (The Avalanches, New Buffalo, Robert Palmer), at 001 Studios in Melbourne. Cyclic Defrost's Vaughan Healey described a typical gig as "a bewildering ride through dynamic tempo changes, finger clicks and swapped instruments. You never really know who is going to sing or what will happen next, and somehow the eight-piece juggles this anarchic structure with a music class worth of instruments and staging rearrangements."[4]

Reception edit

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic72/100[13]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [14]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[15]
The Independent     [16]
Mojo     [17]
NME8/10[18]
Pitchfork8.8/10[19]
PopMatters9/10[20]
Rolling Stone     [21]
SpinD[22]
Uncut     [23]

In Case We Die appeared on the ARIA Albums Chart Top 100.[3][24] At the ARIA Music Awards of 2005, the album received three nominations: 'Best Independent Release', 'Best Cover Art' (by Bird) and 'Best Adult Contemporary Release'.[25] The song "It'5!" (pronounced "it's five") received airplay on the national radio network Triple J and was listed No. 56 in their Hottest 100 for 2005.[2]

The album received generally favourable reviews according to Metacritic website's rating of 72 out of 100 based on reviews by 26 professional critics.[13] AllMusic's Heather Phares found the music was "much more assured" than their debut album, Fingers Crossed (2003), with "lots of parts and changes to them" but it "never feels ponderous" containing "vibrant, irresistible, Technicolor music".[14] Tiny Mix Tapes writer S. Kobak was unsure "whether Architecture in Helsinki is for real or an ironic parody of the post-Arcade Fire indie rock scene" as "[the album] sounds like a cross between Off the Wall-era Michael Jackson without the soul, the Banana Splits, the Grease soundtrack and shitty disco records".[26] Laurence Station at ShakingThrough.net noted the group "progresses dramatically in ambition and proficiency" and likened their style to a "Jackson Pollock drip painting, chaotic and bustling" with "swirling, colorful melodic kaleidoscope works. Rhythmic continuity is so over".[27]

Track listing edit

  1. "Neverevereverdid" – 4:49
  2. "It'5!" – 2:07
  3. "Tiny Paintings" – 3:03
  4. "Wishbone" – 2:26
  5. "Maybe You Can Owe Me" – 4:03
  6. "Do the Whirlwind" – 4:39
  7. "In Case We Die (Parts 1–4)" – 3:33
  8. "The Cemetery" – 2:02
  9. "Frenchy, I'm Faking" – 2:52
  10. "Need to Shout" – 4:10
  11. "Rendezvous: Potrero Hill" – 1:52
  12. "What's in Store?" – 4:29
  13. "Bats and Rats and Murderers" – 1:25 (UK edition bonus track)

Release history edit

The track "Maybe You Can Owe Me" was used in the 2007 film I Know Who Killed Me, starring Lindsay Lohan.

"Do the Whirlwind" has an animated music video in a bizarre video game format.

Personnel edit

Architecture in Helsinki members

References edit

  1. ^ "The J Award 2005". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2005. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Architecture in Helsinki". Music Australia. National Library of Australia. 18 August 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2013.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ a b c "ARIA Top 100 Albums – Week Commencing 11th April 2005" (PDF). The ARIA Report (789). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA): 2, 5, 9 18. 11 April 2005. Archived from the original on 20 February 2002. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Healey, Vaughan (May 2005). "Architecture in Helsinki". Cyclic Defrost. No. 11. Sebastian Chan. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Cameron Bird". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  6. ^ a b "James Cecil". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Gus Franklin". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  8. ^ a b "Isobel Knowles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  9. ^ a b "Jamie Mildren". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  10. ^ a b "Sam Perry". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Tara Shackell". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  12. ^ a b "Kellie Sutherland". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  13. ^ a b "Reviews for In Case We Die by Architecture in Helsinki". Metacritic. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  14. ^ a b Phares, Heather. "In Case We Die – Architecture in Helsinki". AllMusic (Rovi Corporation). Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  15. ^ Raftery, Brian M. (18 April 2005). "In Case We Die". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  16. ^ Sauma, Luiza (11 September 2005). "Architecture in Helsinki: In Case We Die (Moshi Moshi)". The Independent.
  17. ^ "Architecture in Helsinki: In Case We Die". Mojo (143): 98. October 2005.
  18. ^ "Architecture in Helsinki: In Case We Die". NME: 58. 13 August 2005.
  19. ^ Mitchum, Rob (3 May 2005). "Architecture in Helsinki: In Case We Die". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  20. ^ Heaton, Dave (19 May 2005). "Architecture in Helsinki: In Case We Die". PopMatters. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  21. ^ Hoard, Christian (24 March 2005). "Architecture in Helsinki: In Case We Die". Rolling Stone. p. 79.
  22. ^ "Breakdown". Spin. 21 (6): 108. June 2005. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  23. ^ "Architecture in Helsinki: In Case We Die". Uncut (101): 100. October 2005.
  24. ^ "ARIA Top 100 Albums – Week Commencing 25th April 2005" (PDF). The ARIA Report (791). Australian Recording Industry Association: 6, 18. 25 April 2005. Archived from the original on 20 February 2002. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  25. ^ "Winners by Year 2005: 19th Annual ARIA Awards". ARIA Awards – History. Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  26. ^ Kobak, S. "Architecture in Helsinki – In Case We Die". Tiny Mix Tapes. Archived from the original on 9 April 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  27. ^ Station, Laurence (5 May 2005). "Architecture in Helsinki: In Case We Die". ShakingThrough.net. Retrieved 16 July 2013.

External links edit