War on Drugs Fall Off the 'Wagon' on New Album

The war on drugs may be something of a failed policy as far as government initiatives are concerned, but, musically, the concept has been injected with a newfound vigor. Philadelphia's the War on Drugs may not exactly be what Ronald Reagan envisioned in his campaign against substance abuse, but their new album, 'Wagonwheel Blues,' is as addictive as crack.

The band's unique take on traditional rock music realizes the potential of combining experimental ambience and looped samples with bluesy storytelling and rollicking chord progressions. The nine songs that comprise the record are the work of singer Adam Granduciel, a California transplant who, along with friend and bandmate Kurt Vile, has been formulating a dreamy Bob Dylan-meets-Sonic Youth haze for several years. "['Wagonwheel Blues'] took the last six years of my life," Granduciel tells Spinner. "[It] was recorded in so many different places, at so many stages of my own personal recording experience. I love the way the record sounds."

Granduciel says he never had grand aspirations for the songs he was recording in his home studio, and only hooked up with indie label Secretly Canadian through the good intentions of a friend in the band Windsor for the Derby. "He ended up sending [the label] rough mixes I had given to him to listen to on his computer," he recalls. "He's like, 'Hope you don't mind, I sent these to Secretly Canadian.' I was like, 'That was stupid. Why'd you do that?'"

As it turned out, it wasn't such a bad idea. The label was very interested in the band, went to see them play and offered them a deal a few weeks later. The War on Drugs is heading to Europe to play a slew of festival dates in August, then back to the States for some Northeast shows in the fall, with the hopes of expanding their tour in the coming months.

"I'll book it myself if I can," Granduciel says. "It'll be sweet, coming back from Europe. We'll be really solid."