steering clear of the mainstream
since 2001

june 2010

review
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info opinion

Argos

"Days of Being Wild" CDEP

Old Era Records

Genres: rock, party rock, indie rock

band website

Jun 23 - 29 2003

Argos is a rock band from Des Moines, Iowa that mixes energetic rock music with violin and cello.  Though an interesting combination, the strings seem downplayed on their debut release, Days of Being Wild.  As well, the music doesn't seem as fresh as one may hope for.

Opener "Ouroboros" features some nice guitar and violin interweaving, but the melody is not strong enough - the song is more of a party rock novelty than something you'd listen to more than once.  "Rotten Mind" continues this trend with some extra punk energy, but the result is something that you'd listen to once live, not multiple times through your stereo.  Every time they're closing in on a nice melody, they pull away and resolve it too quickly with a quick violin bit or a premature transition to the verse part.  An exception is "Disturbance," which has a violin-injected teen rock sound.  The fully-realized "Ironic Monarchy" also has a decent melody, and shines as the EP's best moment.

Overall, this is a solid debut EP for what is primarily a live band.  Argos will need to work on their sense of melody for their next release, perhaps throwing a few more pop hooks into their music - a daunting task, but "Ironic Monarchy" proves it isn't an impossibility.

74%

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 7 tracks, distributed by the label, released 2002]