The War on Drugs: _Lost in the Dream_

Justin Jacobs on March 27, 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 speechsinging 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