Philadelphia is cresting a tidal wave of euphoria. Barack Obama and pitcher Cole Hamels, hero of the Phillies’ recent World Series win, beam out from the Inquirer’s front page. No less momentously (for me at least), David Byrne is in town, playing at a gorgeous, ornate 3,000-seat ampitheatre called the Tower, where tickets top $200. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I’m the youngest person here by 15 years. Continue Reading

War On Drugs

UPDATE: We’ve had official news from Rough Trade this morning:

THE HOLD STEADY’s Autumn UK tour has had to be postponed because lead guitarist, Tad Kubler has been hospitalised with pancreatitis.

THE HOLD STEADY are currently rescheduling the tour and hope to have the new dates fixed in shortly.

In happier news, the support band for the tour; Philadelphia’s War On Drugs are not only sticking to their planned headline dates at the Norwich Arts Centre and Brixton’s Windmill they have also added in a few more shows to their itinerary - just to make those flights over from the States worthwhile. We urge you to go and check these guys out, mainly because they’re fucking brilliant. What better reason is there? Dates are:

September 30 - London, Club Fandango @ Dublin Castle onstage 8pm [details]
October 1 - London, Club Uncut @ Borderline w/Ladyhawk + The Dudes onstage 8pm [details]
October 2 - London, Instore @ Pure Groove 6.30pm, FREE ENTRY
October 2 - London, Bloomsbury Bowling Alley w/The Dudes onstage 9pm [details]
October 3 - Norwich Arts Centre [details]
October 4 - Bristol, The Louisiana onstage 8.45pm [details]
October 7 - London, The Windmill [details]

War On Drugs’ debut album Wagonwheel Blues is out now via Secretly Canadian and is fast becoming one of TLOBF’s albums of 2008. Read our glowing review here, plus a wonderful interview with frontman Adam Granduciel here.

So this evening The War On Drugs are playing in a pub. And not just any pub. The William Cobbett pub which, judging from the amount of people crammed in is apparently the only pub open on a Wednesday in Farnham and quite possibly the whole of Surrey. Sadly though, it seems the William Cobbett’s clientele of “gosh we’re pretending to be dirty indie kids, but really we’re just very upper-middle class and twee”, are not here for the band though, as I hear one of them saying “yeah apparently there’s a band on tonight” as they fight their way through the crowds to meet their super cool pals, no doubt named ‘Tilly’ or ‘Wills’. Which is a shame, as War on Drugs are the kind of band these indie kids could do with a good dose of. Continue Reading

The War On Drugs. Photograph by Travis Newman

The War on Drugs‘ debut LP Wagonwheel Blues was released last month to quiet acclaim. This website called it an “incredible debut…accomplished, mature, understated”. Pitchfork rhapsodised about its “enormous first impression…they craft a big sound for their big ideas, so that Wagonwheel Blues fills the space between horizons”. From its woozily euphoric opening bars, the record carves out a path that links Springsteen’s bittersweet narratives to Eno’s textural noodling. Main man Adam Granduciel’s voice has been compared, not sacrilegiously, to Dylan; he also carries the lion’s share of musical composition and execution, with support from Philadelphia man of mystery Kurt Vile (shimmering 12-string guitar as well as the usual six-string), Dave Hartley (bass), Kyle Lloyd and Charlie Hall (both drums). On the eve of their first European tour, TLOBF caught up with Granduciel, who’s sweetly boffiny, scarily focused and as puppyishly excited about the tour as we are. Continue Reading

As a child, I had Wagonwheel Blues. As all the other kids on my lunch table chowed down on their disgusting, plasticy, not-fit-for-human consumption ‘treats’, I was exiled for turning my nose up at said chocolate-covered biscuit, and not joining their ‘Wagonwheel Club’. Well, sod you, mean seven year-olds, cos I have my own Wagonwhell club now, with some handy advice on lifestyle choices to boot. And it’s a damn fine club too.

Wagonwheel Blues is the debut release from The War On Drugs, and certainly sets the bar at almost sky-scraper level for their future releases. They don’t have a cute female singer, they don’t sing about dancing or re-hash failed relationships, and I’m pretty sure they don’t wear skinny jeans or T-shirts that are splattered in fluro-vomit. They are, however, very proficient at their instruments, write cracking songs, and are some of the very few musicians who can be compared to Bob Dylan in a good way. Continue Reading