This is the first cold case I've brought up in awhile, and the combo this concerns doesn't help matters by omitting their moniker from the front sleeve, and to a lesser extent reserving said name for the a fine-print mention on the back.
Arpad (and the New Sons of the Industrial Revolution) were Rochester, NY denizens, and their presence in the Flower City scene doesn't appear to have been notably robust. Kind of a shame, because this art rock posse strived to serve something relatively original on the dinner platter. Mouthpiece and prime-mover
Arpad opts for a deadpan, spoken parlance, which I know might be a deal-breaker for a lot of you, yet it's the instrumentation on
Calm Down, that shines on the occasions that it capably does so. The clangy, chiming fretwork and pointed synths exude shades of early Joy Division (think Warsaw era) and perhaps to a merely coincidental degree Middle Class and Pylon. Not everything this threesome hurls at the wall sticks, but Arpad's chosen pastiche stimulates just fine amidst ditties like "Tied Down" and "Fellow Human." Confusingly
Discogs states a 1984 copywrite for this one, whereas the tracklist on the back cover parenthetically denotes the year for each individual composition, with some showing dates as high as 1985 and '86.
01. Flammable
02. Tied Down
03. Rudest Person
04. Trusted You
05. Dominating Creatures
06. Fellow Human
07. Sick of Life
08. Nuclear Delight
09. Bitching Worker
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