Tasty Assessment: Architecture In Helsinki Moment Bends

 My first experience with Architecture In Helsinki was at the Sasquatch Music Festival in 2006 and I was impressed enough to buy their first couple of CDs. The raucous pop of Fingers Crossed helped keep me awake on the 7 hour drive home that started around midnight. Now, four years since their last album Places Like This Architecture In Helsinki are back with Moment Bends. The eleven song Moment Bends is AIH's biggest departure to date. What was once an eight piece band is now down to a core five and they have traded in their youthfully endearing raw sound for a *highly polished one. This new direction is a double edged sword for it shows not only a willingness to grow but risks moving in an opposite direction from their fan base.

AIH have long defied classification and in this way Moment Bends is no different. One could make the argument that this latest album is their shout out to 80's synth influences and not be wrong. You would, however, be guilty of grossly over-simplifying. "That Beep" for example would not have been out of place on a previous album.  The catchy opener "Desert Island" has an undeniable Jamaican influence. The final song on the album "B4 3D" brings the vibe way down for the kind of pop ballad that would have earned it's way onto many a break-up mix-tape. It's highlights like the closing track that make songs like "W.O.W." and "Denial Style" stand out as obvious ms-steps and udder disappointments.

I may yearn for the more upbeat and chaotic side of Architecture In Helsinki with all it's raw sincerity unapologetically banging you over the head but I can't knock a band for growing. I do, however, prefer bands to grow up, not old. Architecture In Helsinki is hardly, in any sense of the word, old but Moment Bends will certainly not be the album I choose to keep me awake on a long drive, late at night. That doesn't mean that I'm not going to their show June 5th at Venue though, cause I am.

*In the interest of full disclosure I should tell you that I virtually always prefer a raw sounding album to a polished one.