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Mixing the grand-scale guitar attack of Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine with a melodic sense and lyrical perspective that recall Bob Dylan roaring down Highway 61, Philadelphia's the War on Drugs have slowly grown from indie favorites to a hit with larger, more mainstream audiences. The group's moody but straightforward guitar rock echoes some of the most captivating elements of Tom Petty, Dire Straits, and several phases of Dylan's journey, placing them more and more in line as torchbearers of the American roots rock sound on albums like 2017's Grammy-winning A Deeper Understanding and 2021's I Don't Live Here Anymore.
The War on Drugs was formed by Adam Granduciel and Kurt Vile, who met at a party in 2003. After several drinks, Granduciel and Vile discovered their shared fascination with the Bard of Minnesota, and they began working on songs together. By 2005, the pair had enough material to launch a proper band, and the War on Drugs was born. With Granduciel and Vile fronting the group, a variety of accompanists drifted in and out of the band before the War on Drugs settled on a stable lineup of Granduciel on vocals, guitar, and keyboards; Vile on guitar and vocals; Charlie Hall on organ and drums; Dave Hartley on bass; and Kyle Lloyd on drums and percussion. While the bandmembers were hesitant to quit their jobs and begin touring extensively, the War on Drugs became a frequent presence on the Philadelphia music scene and impressed out-of-towners during occasional gigs in New York City.
In 2007, the group completed their debut EP, a five-song set called Barrel of Batteries, posted online as a free download. Positive press for both the EP and the band's powerful live shows caught the attention of the noted independent label Secretly Canadian, which signed the group, releasing their first full-length album, Wagonwheel Blues, in June 2008. However, by the end of that year, Vile, Hall, and Lloyd all departed the band, with Vile making a name for himself as a solo artist soon after.
After the mass exodus, drummer Mike Zanghi joined Granduciel and Hartley, and that trio lineup made their recorded debut with 2010's mini-album Future Weather. That same year, Hartley released the first album from his solo project, Nightlands. Multi-instrumentalist Robbie Bennett then joined the War on Drugs for 2011's Slave Ambient, their second proper album, which gained the band significant critical acclaim. While touring Slave Ambient, Granduciel set about writing and recording their third LP. Taking nearly two years to complete, Lost in the Dream saw release on Secretly Canadian in early 2014. It debuted within the American Top 40, and earned them more rave reviews. The group spent much of the next two years making multiple passes through the U.S., Canada, and Europe on tour, then set to work on another album.
The band re-emerged in April 2017 with the 11-minute single "Thinking of a Place," released in conjunction with Record Store Day. The track would later appear on their fourth album, A Deeper Understanding, which arrived later the same year, marking their first album on Atlantic Records; Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes, Weezer) provided the final mix. The War on Drugs embarked on a typically lengthy touring cycle in promotion of the album, which took home the trophy for Best Rock Album at the 2018 Grammy Awards. In 2020, recordings from the tour were compiled for the live album Live Drugs. In advance of the record's November release, the band shared their cover of Warren Zevon's "Accidentally Like a Martyr" from the album and announced a four-episode podcast where they'd discuss touring and the band's creative process while making Live Drugs. In early 2021, the group issued the single "Living Proof" ahead of the release of the studio album I Don't Live Here Anymore, which arrived later that October.
In 2024, the War on Drugs contributed a cover of Tom Petty's "You Wreck Me" to the soundtrack for the TV drama Bad Monkey. Later that year, they delivered the LP Live Drugs Again, culled from performances from their tours between February 2022 and December 2023 across America, the U.K., Europe, and Australia. ~ Mark Deming
