The War On Drugs

Wagonwheel Blues (Secretly Canadian)

By Lou Battaglia
Published: June 24th, 2008 | 12:00am

With the growing success of such acts as the Raconteurs and the Black Keys, along with the emergence of lesser known — but equally as good — groups like Magnolia Electric Co. and Lucero, the indie scene has served as the latest arena for the seemingly undying cycle of blues revivalism. This interest has even led to a limited, but noteworthy, restoration of such yesteryear’s blues-rock icons as Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, and the Rolling Stones.

Who would have thought two years ago that Steve Winwood would be a main attraction at a major music festival like San Francisco’s Outsidelands; that Jack White would share the cover of Rolling Stone with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards; or that Bruce Springsteen would grace the cover of Spin with indie luminary Win Butler? Despite initial reports, the power of the blues apparently transcends the generation gap.

Some could convincingly argue that the quality of the music emanating from this revival, however, has yet to live up to the excitement it has generated thus far. Until, that is, the War On Drugs — a five-piece outfit from Philly — dropped their debut album Wagonwheel Blues. While the other blues-tinged releases of today have been more concerned with displaying their blues-rock credentials by churning out faithful salutes to the form, it seems that the War On Drugs are alone in their attempt to push the genre into a deeper and wholly more relevant territory.

On standout song “Arms Like Boulders,” singer-songwriter Adam Granduciel lyrically wanders along in a seemingly aimless but fascinating manner that recalls the troubadour imagery of Dylan, but with a Rick Danko-meets-Tom Petty accent. Subtle — but searing guitars, a soaring jet engine organ, and a sky-high harmonica rip apart the rest of this track’s sonic spectrum in a way not heard since Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper on Highway 61 Revisited.

Much in the same way that Georgia rockers Deerhunter realized a stunning reinvention of punk by layering ambient textures on top of the genre’s raunchy, DIY aesthetic, the War On Drugs anchor cascading waves of electric energy with the familiar twang, stomp, and bend of the blues to achieve a similarly invigorating synthesis. As a result, when gut-churners like “There Is No Urgency” and “A Needle In Your Eye #16” are followed by the droning “Reverse the Charges” and the Grand Funk Railroad’s “I’m Your Captain”- inspired “Show Me the Coast,” the War On Drugs carry the blues beyond anywhere they’ve been before.

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