As the latest addition to the Criminal Records roster, Argonaut, have already been causing a stir with coverage dotted from Europe to USA to Australia. Discovered playing London’s toilet circuit, the female fronted rock 5-piece signed up to Criminal Records on a three album deal earlier this year. Recorded at Cartel Studios in West London, their new recordings have taken stock of their previous 7 albums! Their debut video and single release ‘Touch Electric’ showcased their grunge vs. pop rock influences, and provided a small snippet of what could be expected when the album finally hit the shelves. From the guitar led grunge of tracks like ‘Touch Electric’ to the stripped back tones of tracks like ‘Chemistry’, the album represents a band who are not afraid to experiment with their sound and emotions. The band’s next music video ‘More Life’ depicts the band walking through dimensions in search of a second shot at life. www.argonaut.info / www.twitter.com/argonautband ‘Argonaut put forward a good case for being brilliant..... Sounds like Siouxsie And The Banshees, while their commitment to youth, ideas and passion should be lauded and rewarded’ James Jam NME Influences Sonic Youth, Nirvana, The Cure, Velvet Underground, Hole, David Bowie, Blondie, Duran Duran, Adam and the Ants, Depeche Mode, Madonna, C86, The Smiths, The Cure, Pixies. Nathan Lyons, guitarist and songwriter, gives the low down on the first single from their self titled album due out in July this year. “The title was inspired by a friend of ours who was continually getting electric shocks – he claims to have been struck by lightning a number of times. I’m not so sure, but all that I know is that he would yelp in pain every now and again and claim to have had a shock off the TV, the stereo, even the fridge. Some people say that you get a static shock off him whenever you touched him but I can’t verify that! It was one of the first songs we ever gelled with. Like most of the songs then, it is a love song. It’s the story of two people with an over-whelming, all-consuming love for each other. The adrenalin and nervous energy literally make them sick. The emotions are so strong, every touch feels charged, like an electric shock – ‘the touch electric’ The music came instantaneously. Music and lyrics probably took an hour to write and record. The guitar riff is a grunged up T-Rex meets the Kills kind of thing. The chorus has the chukka chukka chukka chukka break a bit like in The Breeder’s Cannonball – one of the best songs ever written! There’s a touch of Mudhoney in the words too – we were listening to a lot of grunge at the time and these things seep through the subconscious. The bass line wrote itself but was always going to be the driving force. I also love the noise break/ anti solo – great fun to play live. The synths were added by our producer, and sound amazing – they sneak up on you , sometimes they sound like an alarm or phone going off – but they really drive the chorus. There’s some great backing vocals too, that Lorna could hear every time she sang. They work really well in the final version and with Abby singing live. We are really chuffed to have Touch Electric as our first single from the album. It’s something that we all agreed with as a band, and were fully backed by Criminal Records. It’s loud, heavy and noisy and I think it captures the spirit of some of our influences.”