This Is Your Life [LP]

A big, emotionally naked, and relentlessly melodic blast of anthemic indie rock, This Is Your Life aims so far past the nosebleed seats that it may as well be bouncing off of a satellite. The third outing from the spirited Brooklyn-based trio formerly known as We Are Augustines, TIYL bristles with unabashed earnestness and raw, Springsteen-inspired colloquialisms. Fevered frontman Billy McCarthy, whose heated delivery invokes Glen Hansard, Craig Finn, and Eric Bachmann by way of Neil Diamond, is constantly imploring wild-eyed lovers to hold on, wait, fuck, fight, and get the hell out of Dodge, "Thunder Road" style. Recorded in Los Angeles and New Orleans with Peter Katis (Frightened Rabbit, Interpol), the ten-track set is a simmering cauldron of stadium rock cliches that more often than not, rises above its trappings by sheer force of will. ~ James Christopher Monger