Augustines - This Is Your Life (2016)

Emotionally charged, stadium-ready indie rock outfit Augustines, later changed to We Are Augustines, was formed in 2009 by Billy McCarthy, Eric Sanderson, and Rob Allen after the dissolution of the similarly themed Pela. After Pela's breakup, McCarthy and Sanderson decided to pursue the batch of songs that were intended to appear on the ousted group's sophomore outing, and put them toward a new project. The resulting Rise Ye Sunken Ships, which tows the line between the spirited expansiveness of early U2, the lit-heavy heartache of the Hold Steady, and the introspective alt-rock of the National, arrived on August 28, 2011. The group reverted back to its original moniker (Augustines) in 2014 for its eponymous sophomore outing. ~ James Christopher Monger.