ALBUM OF THE WEEK
It happened to The Cult: the more they truncated their name, the more successful they became. Anyone remember Southern Death Cult or Death Cult? This logic could apply to Augustines, who may rank as the new baton-carriers for the Next Great American Band of The Century title behind The Killers and The National. Arriving as Pela, onto We Are Augustines and now Augustines, this self-titled record is all one could hope for and more. The trio transcends the pall of fashion to deliver songs filled with conviction and character.
If Rise Ye Sunken Ships was a postcard from the edge, a catalogue of disintegration by the hour, Augustines is like hymns from the cathedral. This band has more purpose and greater resonance than anything on the charts recently. It’s as if on their previous album they were lying in the gutter and staring at the stars, and now they’re swinging from those very same stars with a vibrancy unheard since the best stadium moments of U2 or Arcade Fire.
Listen to ‘Cruel City’ and ‘Nothing To Lose But Your Head’ as they are intended, back-to-back, and then spend the rest of the album putting yourself back together after being blown away, wondering why music cannot always have this effect.
You can almost hear the stadium doors creaking open to welcome Augustines onstage.
