This year the Iowa based youth lead anti-tobacco organization, JEL (Which stands for Just Eliminate Lies), held their second annual summit convention at Iowa State University in Ames. The entertainment for the evening of July 24th was a concert comprised of two local area bands, a platform stage, a patch of grass on the Iowa State campus, and 600 kids from across the state coming together to rock hard and have a good time.

Argos - The first band to play was generally characterized by the crowd as insane and “What the fuck?!” In my opinion, the band Argos should be put as the definition in a dictionary under the term ‘creative.’ A five body count completed the band. A punk oriental girl that played electric violin was what gave the band its unique qualities. The guitarist was the comedian of the group, getting plagued by nasty comments from the lead singer. This guy, the singer, reminded me of Jules from ‘The Strokes,’ but that’s just me. The drummer was average, yet effective. It didn’t really feel like he was giving himself to the music, though, like all drummers should strive to do. Finally, the bassist, clad in a dress shirt, tie, and “preppy mohawk” completed the ensemble of musical ingenuity. He was so very ‘Phantom Planet.’ It was great. Their sound and style was unlike anything I’ve ever come in contact with. The band should be proud to hear that this is the first concert I’ve ever been to that the audience is encouraged to mosh and jig within a 30-minute block of time. Many loyal fans did this, too, which made the concert that much more fun to take a part of. It also was the first concert that the band played a song about Gary Coleman’s dad. Whoo hoo!

As Advertised - Wow. Who knew that five young guys from Iowa could create such wonderful sound and keep up such a great stage presence at the same time? I know not. What I do know is that As Advertised sounds like a mixture of every great punk band on earth or elsewhere and have snagged the best qualities of each. As a local band, these guys don’t get as much respect and admiration as they deserve. Doing covers and originals off their EP ‘Soundtrack to Life’ may not seem that impressive, but being that probably 1/3 of their songs they claim they played only “once or twice” sounded just as rehearsed as the others. Either the band lied, or they are just that good. If given the right chances, and if they could get their music to the right people, I could see this band complete many great things. Therefore, As Advertised, I consider to be one of the most talented local bands in our region at the moment. Their energy, fun-loving poise, humor and skill help them stand out from other, less interesting groups.

Review by: Gabby