War on Drugs
Wagonwheel Blues
(Secretly Canadian, 2008)

Another day, another band from Philadelphia making its way to the headphones of music lovers across the land… Philly has always boasted a capital music scene with its rich soul foundation, but it seems like the city has risen quickly over the past few years by way of its burgeoning indie rock community, churning out legions of solid bands—some roots-based, some experimental, some folky, some urban, some noisy, some ambient, some of everything.

War on Drugs is a Philly band that embraces two counterpoints in the local rock scene flourishing around them—a folk aesthetic amid sprawling sonic experimentation. The six-piece straddles this dichotomy in their debut, Wagonwheel Blues. They tap into roots of fellow down-home American songwriters like Springsteen and Petty, but within this lyrical context of conceptual landscapes and social themes, War on Drugs also gets spacious and atmospheric, with studio tricks and a post-rock polish that makes this album a well-executed—and successful—experiment. Balancing folk rock like “Taking the Farm” against more ethereal tracks like “Show Me the Coast” gives the album with a well-rounded approach that avoids sounding disjointed—though it’s Granduciel’s more lyrically grounded folk compositions that provide the backbone. In search of atmosphere, a listener is more likely to reach for My Bloody Valentine or Spaceman 3. But it’s that fearless extension into more progressive territory that provides this album its resonance.

The folk rock “Arms Like Boulders” is the first song, and initially seems to suggest that the rest of the album will follow suit. Granduciel’s Dylan-esque vocal phrasing and harmonica-driven intro set a tone, catering to that folky aesthetic. The lyrics are somewhat existential: “Your god is only a catapult / Waiting for the right time to let you go / Into the unknown just to watch you hold your breath / Yes, surrender your fortress / And your thoughts will tumble like rocks too… / And you’re, you’re the kind to hide your eyes from the sun / And in your world the strong survive / But I wont take my body down.” 

“Taking the Farm” is a rollicking tune a la Springsteen, coasting on an environmental theme with Granduciel’s lyrical lines: “Meet me where the highways and the one-way streets / Come together like a motion / Comes together with my feet / Well top and bottom it’s all the same to me / Till my breathing air is gone.” This exuberance is then traded in for a sweeping wall of sound in “Coast Reprise”, which nicely tempers the earnestness so prevalent in Americana music. Another strong track in the folk rock vein is the lovely “Buenos Aires Beach”, which employs a light snare to drive an anthemic sound. “When the sky was sitting on a Buenos Aires beach / And the sun was shining on the one I want to see.”  

“There Is No Urgency” is the focal point of their post-rock meanderings, as it’s a spacey, six-plus minute track that slowly whispers and grows. “Needle in Your Eye” appropriately conjoins sonic fuzz with the heartland rock of the vocals. The last track, “Barrel of Batteries”, brings it all back home, perfectly capping off the album, existing as a counterpoint to the first track. The sequencing is an essential part of this recipe’s success.

War on Drugs are not only on to something, they’ve pulled it off. It will be interesting to see if they choose a direction to pursue as time unfolds. Or maybe they’ll continue to straddle this line between rock’s roots while exploring the spaced out distances those foundations can be stretched to.

Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

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