The War on Drugs: Lost in the Dream

Justin Jacobs on March 14, 2014

Philadelphia’s The War on Drugs have long flirted with some sizeable influences: droning Sonic Youth guitars; the scrappy, ragged glory of Neil Young; and some serious Springsteen-adoring, Americana anthems. On their third LP Lost in the Dream, frontman Adam Granduciel may as well have locked himself in the studio with Darkness on the Edge of Town and a bag of pot. Call it Daydream Springsteen: under that cloud of hazy, effected guitar, clattering piano and buzzing saxophone, there’s Granduciel searching for truth, his speech-singing delivery every bit as percussive as the steady beat. “Red Eyes” and “Burning” are the biggest culprits (the latter is a slacker-universe “Badlands,” and the former even slyly employs a similar keyboard effect to “Born in the USA”). But when Granduciel slows things down with some lazy harmonica and slow-echo guitar on “Suffering” and the title track, it’s even more apparent: His dream is a perfect place to get lost.

Artist: The War on Drugs
Album: Lost in the Dream
Label: Secretly Canadian