Taking the Farm
from the album Wagonwheel Blues
2008

The War on Drugs are from Philadelphia, but they don’t sound especially urban. Maybe it’s the titles: “Taking the Farm” is a track from a forthcoming full-length debut, Wagonwheel Blues. Judging by the songs’s midrange-heavy jangle and the way singer Adam Granduciel draws out certain vowels, it sounds like this farm may once have been host to a woman named Maggie. Granduciel sounds hopped-up and desperate to get his point across because he’s not sure how much time he has left: “Top and bottom, well, it’s all the same to me/ ’til all my breathing air is gone,” he sings. The band joins him to punctuate with screams of “Hey!” at key moments, as the song barrels forward with a relentless forward motion. Heading into town or away from it, it’s hard to tell, but it’s definitely fun being along for the ride.

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Founded in Madison, WI in 2005, Jonk Music is a daily source for new music.