The War On Drugs – I Don’t Live Here Anymore – Album Review

 Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com 

Forbidden Fruit Festival, Kilmainham, Dublin - Mon 4th June

Headed along to the Forbidden Fruit festival on bank holiday Monday and here's a brief rundown of how it went:

First up for your reviewer were Unknown Mortal Orchestra on the Original (main) stage.  They had an odd blend of Jimi Hendrix style rock n roll with a seventies funky disco twist.  And it worked a treat, the audience lapped it up.  At one stage, the main man and lead guitarist, owner of a most beguiling, soulful voice, ran through the crowd playing guitar.  In a set that seemed to get progressively dancier as it progressed.  The Hot Press tent provided a bit of respite from the throngs of people and a cosy chat between Stuart Clark and David Kitt.  Kitt came across as warm and relaxed, as if he sort of can't believe he's still doing this after the best part of twenty years.

The Bulmers Live stage focused on Irish artists, and Fontaines DC played a highly energetic set, bursting with punky energy.  The band belted out the tunes, like a heavier A House or the punkier side of Joy Division and will be one to watch.  Back to the Original stage then for Spoon, who played a strange mix of knotty, complex songs.  Coming across like a rockier Ben Folds at times, they seemed to be having a great time on stage, though didn't make a major impression.  

Grizzly Bear were next up on the main stage but didn't really connect with the crowd.  Their "indified" Beach Boys sound fell a little flat despite glorious weather, and attentions wandered.  Back then to the Bulmers Live stage for a rousing performance by David Keenan.  Watching him, it's hard not to think you've seen this brand of singer-songwriter stuff done before but in fairness to Keenan, he belted out a bunch of strong songs, drawing from elements of Damien Rice, Van Morrison and even John Martyn.  Another artist definitely on the way up.

At this point it was time to head for the darkened Undergrowth tent for the performance of Warpaint.  Much more uptempo than your reviewer had expected, the audience went wild, dancing along to a band who pulled out all the rock and dance moves, even dabbling with dark blues.  Every move elicited excitement from the crowded tent.

After the high of Warpaint, The War on Drugs lulled the crowd into much more of a sedate stupor.  While the likes of Eyes to the Wind and Pain were reproduced faithfully, showing off Adam Granduciel's talents on guitar, these songs aren't exactly rabble rousers.  I'd imagine tracks like An Ocean In Between, work a little better driving down the freeway with your Wayfarers on, than as the soundtrack to the sun going down as the headliner at a festival.  Strangest Thing leant heavily on its slow set synths while in general the band came across as a little too polished and slick.  It took Red Eyes and Under the Pressure to really get the crowd going, with the crowd jumping and dancing to the guitar solos as opposed to singing along to a chorus.  Despite this, the band didn't quite deliver, perhaps headlining a festival is a step too far for them?  But overall, a decent day out, with plenty of good music, never mind the fruit, permitted or not.

Best Albums of 2017 – Killian Laher

Article for www.nomoreworkhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2017/12/12/best-albums-of-2017-killian-laher/

The War On Drugs – A Deeper Understanding – Album Review

Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2017/08/30/the-war-on-drugs-a-deeper-understanding-album-review/

The War on Drugs - Future Weather

This EP was the second release from The War on Drugs, and came out in 2010.  The whole EP is a kind of wash of sound, introduced by opening intro Come to the City #14.  The second track, Baby Missiles is kind of polarising, some will find this anthemic but too often it comes off sounding like the cheesier moments of Bruce Springsteen.  Comin' Through is more relaxed, and far more enjoyable, a medium paced strumalong track with guitars you could melt into, and this one could go on forever such is the lazy, amiable groove created.  Later, Brothers emulates this kind of feeling, you can almost hear Adam Granduciel and co drawing up their template for later work.  The band sound so... optimistic and wide-eyed on tracks like this, like the sondtrack to endless possibilities.

A change of tack arrives with the folky, Dylanesque A Pile of Tires, but mostly here it's gorgeous, echoey stuff like Comin' Around, Missiles Reprise and the glacial final track The History of Plastic.  Definitely one worth picking up if you like the band, for everyone else proceed directly to 2014's Lost In The Dream.

The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream

The War On Drugs' third album, released in 2014, is an extraordinary beast.  On first listen it seems to drift by, each track running into each other with little variation.  Similarly on subsequent listens.  However after some time it burrows its way into your brain BECAUSE each track runs into each other with little variation.  Ok, enough of the smart-assery.  The album opens with the tone setting Under The Pressure, all ringing, liquid guitars and a positively euphoric sounding Adam Granduciel on vocals.  A huge anthemic sound.  Even more anthemic is the following track Red Eyes, with soaring keyboards washing across the track.

Suffering is slower, sparser, like a slowed down spaced out version of the first two tracks, with the palette of sound very much drawn from Under The Pressure, featuring some gorgeous shimmering keyboards.  By the net track An Ocean In Between the pace has picked up to sort of mid-eighties Don Henley standard (think: Boys of Summer).  All of this is quite unremarkable except for the actual playing, the musicianship in this album is superb.  On the aforementioned track lies a guitar solo that really lifts it to the heights of the rest of the album.  Disappearing is the centrepiece.  It's nearly seven minutes of absolute lushness, a laid-back atmosphere, beautiful keyboards and gorgeously simple chord changes.  At seven minutes it's just not long enough.

Eyes To The Wind and the title track are more rootsy, Granduciel doing his best Bob Dylan impression but the sound is full and uplifting.  On the other hand The Haunting Idle is more mood setting atmospherics than any of the previous tracks  Burning is like U2's Bad on speed, crossed with some guitar out of The Cure's Disintegration, and the album finishes with the Tunnel of Love era Springsteen of In Reverse.

It's the stadium rock it's ok to like.  Built from some arguably pedestrian influences, they are blended to thrilling effect.