The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient (Black Vinyl) Alternative Music even in the height of

even in the height of the DIY blog era

effervescent synth work

it's a veritable summation of everything you love about them - from rhythmically challenging jazz funk prog to droning repetitive exhumations of the socio-political conscience (rock 'n' roll)

is unexploded ordnance is landmines is cluster bombs

Which is not to say this is boring or sanitized in any way

The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient (Black Vinyl) Alternative Music even in the height ofThe 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