There’ a song on Wagonwheel Blues that stands out amongst the nine tracks. While the average length of song is around the four minute mark, “Show Me The Coast’s clocks in at a whopping ten. Adam Granduciel enters early on with a voice not unlike that of Bob Dylan circa Sixties, flanked by an ethereal layer of droning reverb like something out of Loveless or Psycho Candy. Guitars strum and drums roll in perpetuity. The song builds ever so subtly until two-thirds of the way through when it begins to even out, settling into a hypnotic psych groove. It’s glorious, and it never feels outdrawn or self-indulgent. I fell in love with The War On Drugs after I heard this song.
Wagonwheel Blues is the debut album for this Philadelphia band, a beautiful disc that effortlessly blends Dylan-esque folk, Springsteen’ anthemic rock’n’roll and the psych hypnotism of The Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. Granduciel’ evocative lyrics deal with displacement and ache with a sense of longing. Steeped in nostalgia, it aligns superbly with the anachronistic touchstones employed in the music.
The album explodes with “Arms Like Boulders’, an opening number replete with febrile harmonica, wall of guitar and Kyle Lloyd’ cascading drum fills. The shuffle of “A Needle In Your Eye #16′ hints at Tom Petty in alt country mode; the incessant snare drum evokes the rhythm of rolling wheels and the deep, dense organs drone like the wind rushing by open car windows. Of course, I could write something about every song because they’re all so damn solid; there’ hardly a weak point on Wagonwheel Blues. When you read the end of “Show Me The Coast’s and an unidentifiable voice joyously yells “Woo!â€â€¦ Well, that’s exactly what listening to this album feels like.
Dom Alessio
