Fighting the good fight: The War On Drugs

Americana rebooted in the form of The War On Drugs stops off at The Kazimier next week, we give you the low-down on a band whose star is on the rise…

Coming to the attention of a broader crowd over the last 18 months or so, The War On Drugs have been around as a unit getting on for a decade, but it’s in their current guise they’ve enjoyed a significant shot in the arm.

Signed to indie label Secretly Canadian in 2008, the band are touring their second LP, interestingly, their first since founder member Kurt Vile departed for Matador Records and a solo career. For most bands, losing someone of Vile’s ilk could be something of a blow, and perhaps leading lesser lights to calling it quits; instead, their Slave Ambient record has been pretty much universally well received, garnering an 8.3/10 from Pitchfork, and described as “classic rock reborn with added sizzle and drone” by Uncut, who awarded them a perfect 5/5, while on Metacritic, the album received an average rating of 81% – no mean feat.

Though more evolution than revolution following on from debut album Wagonwheel Blues, Slave Ambient evokes the great expanse of the country of its birth, exemplified on tracks like Best Night, and Come to the City. They are the songs of a group on the road, and one can well imagine daydreams of a US road trip accompanied by the tunes of Adam Granducie and his band.

Music journalists being incapable of letting a band slip by un pigeon-holed, TWOD’s sound has been described as bearing heavy (if a little reimagined) Americana influences, while in vocalist and other founding member Adam Granducie, just one of the latest in a long line of US singers landed with the ‘sounding like Bob Dylan’ albatross – in fairness to the journos, if you like Dylan-tinged Americana, you’ll probably be interested in checking these guys out!

Support comes in the form of East London’s dream-pop four-piece, Weird Dreams. By all means, you’ll be paying the ticket price for The War On Drugs, but do try to get along and catch these guys. On the basis of their soundcloud page, early birds will be well rewarded, and could leave the gig with Weird Dreams on their lips. Signed to Tough Love Records, and due to release debut album Choreography in April, these guys look ones to watch.

Thursday Feb 23rd @ The Kazimier Doors 19:30

Tickets £9, available from Ticketline, Probe, Hairy Records/The Music Consortium