The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient (Black Vinyl) Alternative Music The basement grime and dirty

The basement grime and dirty tape-head sound of their previous work now make space for digital luster and shimmering production values

and the soul of rock ‘n’ roll

With the release of Native Speaker in January 2011

and To Cure A Weakling Child shows flashes of the sort of sadism found only on preschool playgrounds

Filled with heady atmospherics and vulnerability that abounds through the shapeshifting sonic palette

The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient (Black Vinyl) Alternative Music The basement grime and dirtyThe War On Drugs 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