The War on Drugs, "Slave Ambient" (Secretly Canadian)
It's hard to find something that sounds new these days. It feels like everything's been done before, your new favorite band sounding like a throwback to your old favorite band.
Into this tape loop steps The War on Drugs, sporting a sound that may not exactly be new in its execution but sure feels that way in spirit. Daniel Granduciel, the primary player in The War on Drugs, spent much of the last three years laboring over "Slave Ambient." It's the band's second album and first without former collaborator and fellow Philadelphian Kurt Vile, who mines very similar sounds in his solo career and with the critically acclaimed release "Smoke Ring For My Halo."
Granduciel made much of the record by taking samples he made in the studio and blending them together to form a modern sort of wall of sound where several different threads blend together seamlessly into what feels like an impenetrable tapestry.
The fun is in the close, repeated listen, trying to pull out all the different flavors from the overall piece.
There's the demented harmonica in "Baby Missiles," the subtle guitar hiding in the shadows on "I Was There," and the spacey horns of "The Animator" that slop over and blend perfectly into "Come to the City."
"Slave Ambient" deserves the same kind of critical attention "Smoke Ring" got earlier this year. Taken together these albums hopefully represent the first unified volley in a new Philly sound — shambolic, shamanistic and completely cool.
CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: "Baby Missiles," a holdover from an EP Granduciel issued to keep fans at bay while waiting on new material, marches along on an infectious beat with inscrutable lyrics and an addictive melody. Go ahead and play it just once. We dare you.
