Hi Red Center hail from Brooklyn, New York and Architectural Failures is their debut record, initially recorded in 2004 but finding a home the following year at Pangaea Recordings, home of Capillary Action.
The band mixes a wide variety of influences to creature the fairly unique offering which is presently spinning around in my stereo. Opener "Red/Green" is an Apple O-esque Deerhoof style rocker, complete with vocal harmonies and synths. It's a fairly infectious little number. "Captain Waltz" continues on from this with a more cute pop style to it, but still retaining that off kilter vibe that can really only be described by making another Deerhoof comparison. While I'm sure the band is probably sick of it by now, San Francisco's finest aren't exactly a bad band to be continually compared too. Hell, they've even supported them in the past.
"Evildoer" has an excellent claustrophobic horn approach to it; part James Chance, part Zu. I'm a sucker for the brass though. The record does fall down a bit on some songs: "Hollow Buttons" with it's constant hum feels as though the band are treading water, while "Alarm will Sound" doesn't really go anywhere in particular and is marred by mediocre vocals. Architectural Failures does pick up towards the end with the classic Nintendo feel of "Famous Hero", perfect for those days when you just can't locate your Advantage albums.
The feeling you get from Architectural Failures is that the band are throwing everything they can against the wall and seeing what sticks. Credit to them, as most of what they are launching has enough adhesive quality to stay around both on the wall and in your ears. The problem with such an approach is that you inevitably have the lumps that unsexily come loose and fall to the ground with an unpleasant squishing sound. If Hi Red Center have spend the two years since these songs were originally recorded diligently deciding what to fling at the wall next time around then the result could be something really special.
