The land, the sea, and the coast that divides them are frequently recurring references on Wagonwheel Blues, the debut album of Philadelphian quintet The War On Drugs. Last night, the three-axe assault felt like a naval bombardment of shoreline defences. POUND, POUND, POUND, boomed the guitars. It was bordering on the brutal.
Now do not get me wrong here – there is always plenty of room in the House of Oz for amped-up rock-mongerers to ply their trade. It is just that all of the subtle sounds on this album and especially the Dylan-esque quality of the lyrics were hopelessly lost in the ceaseless barrage that rained down on the audience last night.
The band ambitiously opened with the lengthy Show Me The Coast. It was a strong taster of what was to come, as lead vocalist Adam Granduciel’s singing was buried in a mix of jackhammer drumming and sledgehammer guitar chords. Most disappointingly, this style of playing overwhelmed both Arms Like Boulders and Taking The Farm – the two best tracks on the album.
Granduciel did apologise for the fact that they could not bring their organ with them on tour. However, I am not sure why his harmonica did not appear to make the trip either. Either would surely have made the songs more pleasurable to listen to.
That said, there were two occassions where the playing style did work out well. In particular, I am referring to the lengthy guitar instrumental on closing song Barrel of Batteries, which drifted off nicely into Sonic Youth territory. I could easily have enjoyed ten more minutes of that song. The instrumental enhancement of Needle In Your Eye was also a definite improvement on the recorded version.
Inevitably, yes, there has been a negative tone to this review. However, I still fully recommend you to go listen to Wagonwheel Blues. It is a curious combination of Americana and sonic dissonance, overlaid by some strong and imagination-capturing lyrics. The quality on display here easily overrides any disappointment that I had with last night.
By the way, the band’s record label Secretly Canadian has kindly made Taking the Farm available as a free mp3 download… here! Do give it a listen!
Filed under: Gigs, Music | Tagged: The War On Drugs, Adam Granduciel
Picked up Wagonwheel Blues at the weekend. Very impressed with it.
Cool! There was a freebie 6-track EP floating around the Internet earlier this year as well. One or two good additional songs on that too, if you can track it down.
Having a hard time trying to get Barrel of Batteries lyrics. I’d be happy if someone provides “Pushing Corn”, as I can’t barely understand anything and just love the song.
If I see them anywhere, I will drop you a line by email.