The War On Drugs Slave Ambient Vinyl LP 2011

Tracklist:

1. Best Night
2. Brothers
3. I Was There
4. Your Love Is Calling My Name
5. The Animator
6. Come to the City
7. Come for It
8. It's Your Destiny
9. City Reprise #12
10. Baby Missiles
11. Original Slave
12. Black Water Falls

these philly rockers conjure an ambling drone that conceals real pop hooks and allows classic-rock colours to seep through. main man adam granduciel gets plenty of dylan comparisons, but 'slave ambient' feels like a more back-alley byrds filtered through a gauzier spacemen 3 lens. the chugging 'your love is calling my name' drives that road for six blissful minutes. but their best song, 'baby missiles' - in a different version here than on 2010's 'future weather' ep - overlays a synth aura, like '80s-era springsteen with a splash of kurt vile. it's vexing in exactly the right way.