The War on Drugs
Lost in the Dream

Former band-buddies Alex Granduciel and Kurt Vile both hail from Philly. Playing in one another’s bands for a handful of years (The War on Drugs and Kurt Vile & The Violators, respectively), the two took the meaning of the City of Brotherly Love to its greatest extent, until around 2008 when they amicably split to focus on their own personal ventures.

Last year, Vile released Wakin on a Pretty Daze, a splendid record that stretched itself over its vast 70-minute terrain with ease. This year, as The War on Drugs, Granduciel releases Lost in the Dream, an expansive guitar album focused on the journey rather than the final destination. It’s just as colossal as Vile’s last — and just as fantastic. Long story short, the split was a good choice.

Front to back, there isn’t a sour kid in Dream’s patch; from the first scratches of the drum pad on opener “Under the Pressure” to the last ambient synth tone on “In Reverse,” Granduciel’s tales of uncertainty and loss blend into one seamless, effortless, excellent blur. Some songs in between remind me of Bruce Springsteen, some of Tom Petty. Others even remind me of Dire Straits. But while Lost in the Dream recalls these classic artists, it doesn’t urge me to go seek out their records. Rather, it keeps me salivating over this one.