The War On Drugs - "Slave Ambient"

Artist: The War On Drugs
Album: Slave Ambient
Label: Secretly Canadian
Release Date: August 16, 2011
Review by: Sean Kayden

The War On Drugs have already had a tumultuous early career. Adam Granduciel and Kurt Vile displayed a communal bond for classic rock and reflective storytelling. In the forefront, they were setting out to make great American rock music. Raw, guitar-driven, and with a knack for gritty songwriting, The War On Drugs were onto something magnetic. After dropping their much-lauded debut LP, “Wagonwheel Blues” in 2008, three of the five members left the band. This included co-founder, Kurt Vile, who released a critically acclaimed album this year entitled, “Smoke Ring for My Halo”. Instead of disbanding, co-founder and vocalist, Adam Granduciel recruited drummer Mike Zanghi making The War On Drugs a three-piece rock band. With a new perspective on things, Granduciel went from co-pilot, to full on navigator. The War On Drugs proudly present “Slave Ambient”, the sophomore record from a band that was poised to change 21st century rock forever.

“Slave Ambient” roots lie within the confines of Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen. It’s pure Americana rock and oddly enough, fresh and innovative for this day and age. Whatever fragments of guitar-driven music still exist, The War on Drugs may have the only remaining pieces left to pave a new path for not only themselves, but followers as well. The record kicks off with “Best Night”, the best track off the album (and one of the better songs of the 2011). The initial sound resembles something off a “Broken Social Scene” album, but the comparisons end once Granduciel starts to sing. He has sort of a nasally tone and is lyrically succinct. The image you get when he sings is as if he’s driving on an open, desolate road traveling through the heartland of America and taking it all in. He may not be able to discern where he’s heading or what possibilities may lie ahead, but he’s perfectly content with not knowing so. “Baby Missiles” sounds like something off of Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs”, but you easily realize this substance is more of a remedy than whatever “Arcade Fire” had subscribed. The twelfth and final track is “Blackwater” and it’s truly spectacular. It may feel like a vintage Bob Dylan song, but Granduciel has enough creative intuitiveness to call this one his very own masterpiece. Holding me back from calling the entire record a masterpiece are the four instrumental tracks that sadly don’t do any favors for the record as a whole. They come and go without feeling like a necessity for the album, but just purely filler. However, the other tunes demonstrate Granduciel as an expressive lyricist and an impassioned singer who means every single word he sings.

“Slave Ambient” is for the believers, the non-conformists, the wonderers, the dreamers, the lovers, the fighters, the optimists, the broken-hearted, and the life-changing seekers. If you’re deep in the hole or just barely crawling out, “Slave Ambient” has your name written all over it. The album is sophisticated and classic rock inspired. It’s a reminder that rock music can mean something once again. It’s unfortunate that this may very well be a sleeper hit of an album and only become discovered by the ones searching for something with more merit than what is on the Billboard Top 40. The War On Drugs is another prime example of how mainstream music doesn’t hold a candle to what independent rock has to offer. If you have a penchant for superior American rock music that is laced with superb songwriting and dazzling guitar-driven melodies, “Slave Ambient” undeniably fits the bill.

Grade: 8 out of 10
Key Tracks: "Best Night", "Come To The City", "Baby Missiles", "Blackwater"

Published on August 20th, 2011 by Mountain Views News.
http://mtnviewsnews.com/v05/htm/n34/p10.htm