The Universe is a side project by
Architecture in Helsinki's
Gus Franklin, and their debut album,
The Outer Void Intrepid Sailor, is a much more focused affair than that eclectic collective's sprawling albums. Seemingly highly influenced by both '70s art rock (think
Hunky Dory-era
David Bowie and mid-career
10cc) and more recent dream pop fabulists like
Mercury Rev and
Grandaddy,
Franklin has created an honest-to-goodness concept album, telling the story of a solo astronaut through clever, catchy pop songs like "The Announcement" (which has the childlike feel of a classic
Flaming Lips song matched to a rich melody that recalls
the High Llamas) and the dreamy "Grand Central" (more akin to the ramshackle psychedelia of
the Olivia Tremor Control). More engagingly tuneful than
Architecture in Helsinki's own albums, with several immediately catchy choruses and excellently realized arrangements that mix orchestral influences with vintage electronic bleeps and whirs,
The Outer Void Intrepid Sailor is right on the edge of over the top, but
Franklin's strong melodic sense and winsome, boyish vocals keep things from tipping over into pretension.