The Leeds Scenester
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The War On Drugs Brudenell Social Club, September 2011
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on the album the vocals colour the sound and allow the songs to shine through. Contrast is an element lacking tonight and after a strong start the songs tend to blur.
Their fifth number – Its Your Destiny – brings them back on track and features a pretty piano figure and awesome drums followed by a ten minute jam. Bathed in green light we get heads down no nonsense jagged guitar with a dash of feedback and mighty drums. Brothers is next (Adam tells us that this is his favourite War on Drugs song). They close the ninety minute set with three tracks from the debut album – Taking the Farm, Arms Like Boulders and the encore Buenos Aires Beach
Alex mentioned that the last time they played the UK around seventeen people came to each of their gigs. Tonight there were well over two hundred and following their sold-out London show they’ve added another. Clearly this is a band on an upward trajectory so maybe now they can experiment with their live shows and inject greater vocal clarity and light and shade into the sound – incorporating Slave Ambient’s final track Blackwater into the set would be a terrific start.
Andrew Lindsay
Photography by Tony Butterworth
The War on Drugs? Sounds like something that David Cameron would declare. Nothing of the sort at the Brudenell. It’s a four piece band from Philadelphia featuring main man Adam Granduciel – lead guitarist, vocalist and writer. The band has been around for over three years and has just released their second album -Slave Ambient. They’ve just performed two shows in Yorkshire. Bravo to the Brudenell for booking them.
The Leeds cognoscenti were out in force – a heavy student contingent, predominantly male with a smattering of over 50s – doubtless readers of Uncut and Mojo magazines both of whom gave a big ‘thumbs up’ to the new album. The band takes to the stage at 9.30pm sharp – visually they are a delicious throwback. Adam sporting a check shirt and a mid-1970s Neil Young haircut (such a thing is possible). A wag calls out: “Did you get your shirt from Primark?” Momentarily flummoxed (he’s no idea what Primark is) Adam recovers by informing us that the shirt is from San Sebastian - the first date on their current European tour. On bass Dave Hartley is clad entirely in denim while keyboard/twelve string player Robbie Bennett is archetypically hirsute. The drummer – being a drummer – is unseen but very loud.
So that’s the fashion parade - what about the music? Ambient it is not. This is rock music that builds on a fine heritage (Dylan/Young/Petty/Patti Smith and lashing of John Bonham) and creates a dense big new noise. The opening number showcases Adam’s guitar playing floating over a momentous and powerful rhythm section. Sadly the vocal is rather lost in the maelstrom and, although he asks for the sound to be turned up, it is to no avail. Pity really, as
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