Great things surely beckon for talented New York quintet Argentine who have delivered an album that speaks more of an longing to belong in a far away, peaceful place than the fashionably intense state in which they reside. Initial impressions seem unexciting with vocals on loan from Radiohead and handwringing ballads that have become the stock-in-trade for many British indie favourites. But there's something far deeper in these eight songs. Vocalist/guitarist Ian Carpenter never seems overwrought and the group deliver subtle yet pleasingly melodic back-up. The title track is a particular standout; a bleak, desolate alt-country masterpiece which seems to hope for the open skies featured on the album cover. The angst of 'Ender/Beginner' and the spine tingling crescendoes of 'Bowling Green' are two other major highlights but throughout there is a high quality of melancholic, introspective rock. One would be hard pushed to find an independent rock debut as effortlessly evocative as this.