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] |