Only time will really tell whether Philadelphia-based band The War on Drugs is destined to be known as “the band Kurt Vile used to be in,” but that sort of thing isn’t keeping TWoD from pushing forward. The Future Weather EP is the follow-up to the band’s 2008 debut album, Wagonwheel Blues, and their ex-guitarist Kurt Vile‘s star has certainly risen since that album’s release, but The War on Drugs’ blend of laid-back indie-pop and Americana is back for another shot at the brass ring regardless.
The mini-album is full of spaced-out wonder. Take, for example, the knee-slapping Americana of “Baby Missiles,” a track reminiscent of Wagonwheel’s highlight track “Taking The Farm.” Layered guitars, harmonica, and lead singer/songwriter Adam Granduciel’s entrancing vocals all sound fuzz-pedaled out. Then there’s the steady acoustic strum and electric guitar solos of “Comin’ Through,” the surreal folk vibe of “Pile Of Tires,” and the slow-burning, 8-minute long album closer “The History Of Plastic,” a lament about being used and discarded like, you guessed it, a piece of plastic. If the dense and enchanting Future Weather is any indication of the forecast for the band’s next full-length, which is in the works, then fans have much to look forward to.
Release date:
25.10.2010
Quality:
VBR
Buy on Amazon:
MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/thewarondrugs
Music label:
Secretly Canadian
Country:
United States
Tracklist:
01 Come to the City #14
02 Baby Missles
03 Comin’ Through
04 A Pile of Tires
05 Comin’ Around
06 Brothers
07 Missles Reprise
08 The History of Plastic
The War On Drugs is once again at the blurred edges of American music: overexposing studio limitations, piling tape upon tape to maximum density, and then -- with each song -- they pull off the scaffolding to reveal what sticks, keeping only what's absolutely necessary and dig into what sounds like the best kind of fucked up. As on their debut, Wagonwheel Blues, they take small moments occurring over multiple tapes and multiple song versions, and put every last drop of trust in their own instinct of momentum.
Future Weather is a provocative -- sometimes playful, sometimes weighty -- glimpse into The War On Drugs' song-sculpting process, a process that remains a big mystery even to those on the inside. While some bands are content to merely pace the abyss, The War On Drugs coast through it. And along the way, Future Weather sidesteps most every connotation associated with the EP format. There's a true coalescence and symmetry here, one of wash and drone, of momentum and tone, but also of theme. Friendship, loyalty and keeping a group of spiritual brothers together are all themes that songwriter Adam Granduciel focuses in on for Future Weather. "Wondering where my friends are going / Wondering why they didn't take me / Looking out the window of my room / Looking out where something once ran wild," he sings on "Brothers" with a sense of soured peace, leaving out all the right things, leaving room in there for the shared experiences of your own friends. There are cues taken from our best American songwriters, yet The War On Drugs are wise enough to also implode or send themselves into outer space when the moment calls for it. The driving organ riff that pushes "Baby Missiles" may be inspired by a fever dream of Springsteen or Dire Straits more than any particular jam. And the endless layers of guitar melody and atmospherics of "Comin' Through," rather than add weight to the vessel, only work to fill its sails with warmer and warmer winds.
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