Augustana is a rock band from San Diego, but given the brand of rootsy, blues tinged rock they play, you might think they’re from the South. The band gained national popularity a couple years ago on the back of the their first single “Boston,” a piano driven ballad that ended up being featured on the soundtracks of several prime time television shows. Two years later, Augustana is back with a much more defined sound and sense of self than on their debut All the Stars and Boulevards. The new album Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt features ten tracks than find Augustana stripping things down a bit and finding their alt-country side. Singer Dan Layus is more confident this time around. This is especially noticeable on the ballad “Fire,” which features just him and a piano. He also does a great Ryan Adams impression on “Meet You There,” complete with an unnecessary f-bomb, just for good measure. The first single, “Sweet and Low” has the potential to eclipse the popularity of “Boston” if pop radio weren’t so fickle these days. The song is just as good as anything Goo Goo Dolls or The Wallflowers were putting out in the late 90s. Today’s song is the album opener and while it takes a while to get where it’s going, once it does, you see the wait was worth it. This tune is definitely more polished than anything on All the Stars and Boulevards, but I don’t mean that in a bad way. Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt is fantastic album and I’m hoping that Augustana continue in this direction in the future.
One new song everyday until I get tired of doing it again. Click on the artist's name to get more information about them. Click on the album art for purchase information. Click on the play button to listen for yourself. Enjoy.
Augustana is a rock band from 
No comments:
Post a Comment