Augustana – All the Stars and Boulevards

Music Reviews Augustana
Augustana – All the Stars and Boulevards

A-list producer hooks up with earnest young band

It isn’t every day that renowned producer Brendan O’Brien takes a new band under his wing—not with high-profile clients like Bruce Springsteen and The Wallflowers constantly knocking on his door. But with the Illinois-bred/L.A.-based Augustana—led by writer/singer Dan Layus, a 20-year-old with a go-for-broke vocal delivery and his heart on his sleeve—O’Brien must’ve seen an opportunity to bridge the gap between the youthful anguish of emo and the cathedral rock of U2 and Coldplay. The collaboration plays to both the producer and band’s innate sense of drama. Their intentions become strikingly apparent at the 2:50 mark of opening track “May?eld,” when the band slams into the final chorus with the thrilling suddenness of a thunderclap. Unfortunately this big moment merely signals another round of the generic refrain, “Are we gonna make it?” The problem with this beautifully crafted first effort is that the towering sonic architecture is out of proportion with the callow songcraft.

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