Text this event Architecture In Helsinki might seem at first glance
to be Australia’s answer to Out Hud, but the coed ensemble also draws
bits from The Beta Band and Tom Tom Club. The sound came together on
the group’s rhythmically playful chant-along album In Case We Die, but
it’s doubly rousing onstage. After the release of Die, “creative
differences” led to the sudden departure of members Isobel Knowles and
Tara Shackell, so it’s not surprising that the recent Places Like This
represents a departure for the group. “Feather In A Baseball Cap” and
“Hold Music” have Helsinki architect Cameron Bird channeling Modest
Mouse-style vocals, though nothing on Places matches the catchiness or
immediacy of “Float On.” A Portland band pitched toward
disco-ventilated post-punk and no-wave noise, opener Glass Candy has
banged around the indie underground with a handful of releases for the
Troubleman Unlimited label. The group preens through party-starting
revisionism, lacing dance-y grooves with loose-limbed lurches and
vocals by Ida No, a jaw-dropping frontwoman on par with Debbie Harry
in her prime.