Augustines was born upon the ashes of the Brooklyn rock band, Pela. That combo called an end to its collective trip in 2009, but founders McCarthy and Sanderson reunited to record a series of deeply personal songs chronicling despair, depression, and the untimely death of McCarthy’s brother.
Last year, (We Are) Augustines toured Germany twice. The first time they were the unlikely support for The Maccabees before their breakthrough debut album Rise Ye Sunken Ships kicked in and they played their own sold out headline shows all over the country. When the band finished their tour in the winter of 2012 they retreated to the studio to record their second record.
The New York band recently dropped the ‘We Are’ from their name and went back to being just Augustines (a name they couldn’t use before for legal reasons) and relocated to Seattle.
“We see the name change as a triumph, because it’s the original name we started as and the name everyone calls us anyways..it gives us a sense of purpose that we got it back, and that’s a triumph in our eyes, we think our fans will honour that”.
Tonight is your chance to see the band in an intimate surrounding at Privatclub. This might be your only shot as I’m certain the band will be back to play much bigger venues in the near future. This will also be your chance to listen to songs from the new record, including the singles Cruel City and Nothing To Lose But Your Head.
“Augustines are a very lucky bunch. We are only here because of our fans“, offers up the band’s Billy McCarthy, speaking of the track. “There’s a great saying in America: ‘Dance with who brung ya.’ To me it means stick with who got you where you are. This song is about the realization that now is the time. Gone are the days of wandering around waiting for that right time. There is no right time, so go – ya got nothing to lose but your head.”
The opening notes of Nothing To Lose immediately reminded me of Headlong Into The Abyss, my favourite from their first record. The song carries an instant sense of longing as McCarthy sings “My mind feels like an empty parking lot / For the onlooking lonesome ones / They sit at a table in my head” before bursting into the powerful chorus. Nothing To Lose But Your Head is a powerful americana rock song that proves that Augustines’ new album will at least be as great as their first.
