Augustana [ tickets ], according to a press release, believes that its name is Latin for "a small glimpse of hope." Yet, it's hard to be even that hopeful about the future of this Illinois-raised band after listening to its ho-hum debut, "All the Stars and Boulevards."

If one were to sneak a peak at the band's record collection, the guess here is that you would find a lot of Coldplay, Live and Counting Crows. On tracks like "Mayfield," "California Burning" and, especially, "Bullets," the quartet shoots to create the same type of radio-friendly anthems that have served those more-established acts so well.

Unfortunately, Augustana is shooting mainly blanks. The music rings all the familiar bells--the guitars glide in at the right time, the rhythmic changes are as predictable as an alarm clock and there's the standard mix of ballads and up-tempo tracks. But there's little depth to the music. Much of that has to do with the over-the-top lyrics, which mix the obvious with the overused like a TV commercial jingle.

An even bigger problem is Dan Layus' delivery. He oversells everything in a way that can only be compared to bluesman Jonny Lang. His scratchy, strained voice is certainly emotional. But, like the kid who cried wolf, eventually it isn't believable. On this album, that happens roughly two minutes into the first track.