"And all the words can all get spoken, but I know we tried, and you're forgiven."

Good evening bloggophiles!

Apologies for the long delay between blogs; I had a bit of bad news recently, so haven’t been up to the job. I also apologise for promising you a  book based blog, which I’ll be instead writing for next week (obviously I haven’t been up to the task of reading said book either).

However, this week I’ve got another album for you. I mentioned it in a previous post (and gave in and bought it not long after). That album was Rise Ye Sunken Ships by the New York-based indie band ‘We Are Augustines’, and it’s a bit of a corker if I do say so myself. They are composed of members Billy McCarthy and Eric Sanderson, formerly of the band ‘Pela’ (along with new drummer Rob Allen).

Oxcart Records (fair use policy)

"I tried the Bible, I tried the bottle, I tried the needle, I tried to see if people mean anything."

Where do I start with this album? I suppose I could tell you it was released independently, and maybe that level of freedom has contributed to the amazing collection of material on this album. But I guess I should just jump straight in with what I think is the band’s most amazing feature: the ability to turn painful experiences into something beautiful.

During the final days of ‘Pela’, McCarthy discovered his brother James had committed suicide, and this is ostensibly reflected in the music. One thing ‘We Are Augustines’ do spectacularly is infuse a huge amount of pathos into their songs, through haunting melodies and heartfelt lyrics. But to tell call them depressing would be a huge misnomer, because behind the melodies and lyrics is an incredible energy that spurs the songs on.

Songs such as ‘East Los Angeles’, ‘Chapel Song’ and ‘Barrel of Leaves’ have a certain melancholic feel to them. Somewhat resigned to the fact that we cannot escape the pain, and maybe never truly make it better, but that said it never feels overwhelming, instead being urged on by an energy that refuses to be forced into a state of self-pity. If there is one thing this album is, self-pitying is not it. Tracks like ‘Juarez’, ‘Book of James’ (easily my favourite), ‘Patton State Hospital’ and ‘Headlong into the Abyss’ in particular display a sense of raging at the injustices of the world, refusing to be beaten down. There are even songs that sound pretty upbeat such as ‘Philadelphia (The City of Brotherly Love)’, but they mesh with the album as a whole and don’t seem out of place.

Bob Sanderson

"Lord I see red, and it's storming in my head. I got cathedrals in my ears, and I think my daddy's dead."

Finally, as anyone who knows me at all with attest, I love my lyrics. I’m a bit of a snob really, and I hate the accusation that lyrics are just lazy poetry. One thing that drew me to this record was the expert word-smithery (yay I made a word!) present throughout. The lyrics in some stand out more than others, and suffering plays an understandably large part, but they really go a long way in helping the music as it attempts to reconcile all that pain.

I highly recommend this album, and if nothing else listen to ‘Book of James’ and ‘Juarez’, and ‘Chapel Song’ too if you have the inclination. They’re all the singles released so far, but I think they’ve been well chosen in representing the diverse expressions contained in the album.

Anyway, that’s it from me, I’m off to go listen to this band again because I just can’t get enough. I’ll leave you, as always with a random thought. Jam doughnuts and custard doughnuts are, in my opinion, both equally delicious. But I’ve noticed something about doughnuts: you can give a jam doughnut to an advocate of custard and they will happily eat it more often than not; however, members of the jam doughnut party are unable to enjoy the golden joy that is custard doughnuts.

See you next week, where I promise you will have a book-based blog at long last…

~ Toby