Long before the whimsical chords of ‘Boston’ came to score YouTube how-to videos everywhere, Augustana debuted Midwest Skies and Sleepless Mondays.
Haven’t heard of it? No pressure: It plunked into obscurity without so much as a shaky wail from Dan Layus’s overplayed voice.
So how did they end up wooing Epic? By moving to San Diego, of course, to soak up chillaxed rock like starved Midwestern loofahs and turn out All the Stars and Boulevards.
Augustana doesn’t look like a SoCal band: Their black pea coats over oxford button-ups reflect an autumn that San Diego never feels, let alone understands. Moreover, the band tie-dyes their tunes with Americana appropriate to their sprung-from-Springfield history: When Layus isn’t crying ‘You don’t know me, you don’t even care’ in a boozy Orpheus voice, he’s mimicking Bob Dylan’s creepy old-man twang.
But googly eyed and love-riddled California tunes roll back in as conspicuously as tidal waves, and Augustana don’t hesitate to shake their new beach hair to the tick of the metronome.
Don’t expect mosh pits to break out on the muddy RIMAC Field during Augustana’s warbly ‘Sweet and Low.’ Instead, lay your dizzy head down and let their consuming piano-rock lull you to sleep. You’re probably going to need the nap for N.E.R.D, and who knows? Augustana (with the help of some obligatory additives) just might make for some unbeatable dreams.