speed of dark

On the recommendation of The Torture Garden blog, for the past several days I have been listening a lot to Wagonwheel Blues, the debut album by Philadelphia's The War On Drugs that was released following their signing to Secretly Canadian last month.

Start with Arcade Fire, take out Win Butler and add nasal, Tom-Petty-like vocals (by Adam Granduciel), then carefully remove the most blatant layer of Springsteen, and you have an idea of what this band sounds like. Oh yeah, you can also remove any preachiness found in the other artists and replace it with infectious joy. Granduciel and band partner Kurt Vile are clearly fans of Bob Dylan as well, without incorporating any of his cynicism, and the ringing guitar of Daniel Lanois.

There are at least five songs here that you MUST have. "Taking the Farm" and "Needle In Your Eye" are the most forceful, showing off an Arcade Fire-like organ and a well-developed sound unusual in a first album (their first, EP Barrel of Batteries has been re-released). But three other songs are nearly equal to these two: the harmonica-laced first track, "Arms Like Boulders," the rollicking "Buenos Aires Beach," and the delightfully lo-fi acoustic "Barrel of Batteries." "Show Me the Coast" and "Coast Reprise" are zoomy, spacey instrumentals that are hypnotizingly gorgeous. Another instrumental, "Reverse the Charges," reminds me somehow of the Radiohead instrumental, "A Meeting In the Aisle" from How Am I Driving, which was like a tranked-out news show intro, but this song is even slower and dreamier.

If you are looking for a way to use up your eMusic downloads, this is definitely the way to go. I would not be surprised to find something from this album among my favorites for the year. Oh, and somebody needs to take more photos of these guys because this one is, like, IT.

The War On Drugs: A Needle In Your Eye #16 from Wagonwheel Blues (2008)

Stereogum has an interview with lead singer Adam Granduciel regarding his day job as a property manager.

MySpace | Website/Blog | Label: Secretly Canadian
Buy at Secretly Canadian Store, Amazon.com, and eMusic

Show Schedule:
The War On Drugs have scheduled dates in Europe and the U.K. most of August. I hope they come back and do a U.S. tour!