{"id":247113,"date":"2014-03-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-28T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/album-review-lost-in-a-dream-by-the-war-on-drugs\/"},"modified":"2014-03-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-03-28T07:00:00","slug":"album-review-lost-in-a-dream-by-the-war-on-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/album-review-lost-in-a-dream-by-the-war-on-drugs\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: \u201cLost in a Dream\u201d by The War on Drugs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Por Hutton Marshall | Editor SDUN<\/p>\n

In early March, The War on Drugs released their third studio album, \u201cLost in a Dream,\u201d to a pent-up wave of critical acclaim for the band\u2019s saturated \u201cheartland\u201d rock. Pent up, because, like most of the group\u2019s work, it took a while to get here. Under the creative control of the notoriously meticulous singer\/guitarist Adam Granduciel, the recording process reportedly consisted of the usual scrutiny their previous two endeavors endured.<\/p>\n

\"Adam<\/a>
Adam Granduciel of The War on Drugs (Photo by Dusdin Condren)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Arbiters of hipster sentiment such as Pitchfork, NPR and the Guardian have praised the new release though, appearing to validate the tedious, some would even say neurotic efforts of Granduciel. Indeed, the album is well refined, and its songs, although still elusive and spacey, feel more deliberate than their earlier work. Both lyrically and musically, \u201cDream\u201d is much more concise, and I cringe to say, accessible, without losing the introversion and reflection that makes Granduciel\u2019s work magnetic.<\/p>\n

For those unfamiliar with the Philadelphia indie rock group, they formed in 2005, as the product of a musical partnership between Granduciel and now-popular solo artist Kurt Vile, who is perhaps still responsible for much of his former band\u2019s name recognition, despite having left the group shortly after their first album release in 2008.<\/p>\n

The group went through several lineup changes since then, with Granduciel being the only consistent name in the rotation. Closing the gap between Vile\u2019s comparative stardom, their 2011 album, \u201cSlave Ambient,\u201d received praise for its blend of lackadaisical, mild psychedelia and Bruce Springsteen-esque rock.<\/p>\n

\u201cDream\u201d has piled on even more notoriety for the group, and stylistically, it further distances them from Vile\u2019s work, which is probably to their advantage, but it isn\u2019t why the band\u2019s success is mounting.<\/p>\n

Live performers\u00a0 fall into two categories: those we watch with awe, and those we see ourselves in. Lady Gaga, Andrew W.K., Mick Jagger \u2013 larger-than-life stars \u2013 are captivating by being what 99.9 percent of the population only imagines being. They are shock and awe. On the other hand, artists like Granduciel, singing about everyday anxieties and broadly felt sensitivities, are entralling because its us singing those songs, or at least it might as well be. Our ability to relate to them draws us in, and Granduciel embodies that.<\/p>\n

This album was written and recorded as he trudged through a flamed-out relationship and isolation at home resulting from his new-found success. With track titles like \u201csuffering,\u201d \u201cred eyes,\u201d and \u201cThe Haunting Idle,\u201d past pain is evident, but musically, it\u2019s a surprisingly warm, drifting rock album. Just as Beach Boys\u2019 \u201cPet Sounds\u201d juxtaposed the sad, thoughtful lyrics of post-nervous breakdown Brian Williams with bright, off-color pop music, The War on Drugs creates a similar effect to make \u201cDream\u201d both catchy and revealing of Granduciel\u2019s inner turmoil. It\u2019s not something to miss.<\/p>\n

The War on Drugs plays at the Casbah on Sunday, April 6 with White Laces.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Hutton Marshall | SDUN Editor In early March, The War on Drugs released their third studio album, \u201cLost in a Dream,\u201d to a pent-up wave of critical acclaim for the band\u2019s saturated \u201cheartland\u201d rock.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":740,"featured_media":247114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Album Review: \u201cLost in a Dream\u201d by The War on Drugs","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-247113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/740"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}