Rise Ye Sunken Ships

Brooklyn-based We Are Augustines - formed by ex-Pela members Billy McCarthy and Eric Sanderson, and featuring Rob Allen on drums - present their debut album 'Rise Ye Sunken Ships'.

'Rise Ye Sunken Ships' is as biographical record as you will ever hear. Listening to it is like taking a snapshot of the inner workings of front man Billy McCarthy's head space at a particular place and point in time. It is as earnest and emotional as it is violent and cathartic. You don't even need to read the back story on the band to understand what is going on behind these songs, to realise that We Are Augustines have created a very special record in a similar manner to what their Brooklyn based peers, The National did in 2010. 'Rise Ye Sunken Ships' is destined to be one of 2011's word-of-mouth break through albums.

We Are Augustines are advocates of the heart on sleeve approach to song writing. It's hard not to considering front man songwriter Billy McCarthy's eventful recent history. Dubbed by Alt Sounds as "the modern day Springsteen", much of the material on 'Rise Ye Sunken Ships' documents the most traumatic period of McCarthy's life.

And yet, the album is full of a sense of hope... "Keep your head up, kid...I know you can swim...But you've got to move your legs…"