Saturday, December 05, 2020

The War on Drugs - Live Drugs

The War on Drugs are a band whose music is made for the live format - large, expansive, sweeping rock and roll with long builds and extended climaxes and outros - and they come through strongly on this set, which was compiled across multiple shows as is often the way. 

There's a few songs from each of Lost in the Dream and A Deeper Understanding, including several of their most exciting - "An Ocean Between the Waves", "Pain", "Strangest Thing", "Red Eyes", "Thinking of a Place", "Eyes to the Wind", "Under Pressure", "In Reverse" - and an older one ("Buenos Aires Beach") and a cover of Warren Zevon's "Accidentally Like a Martyr" in the middle. 

No revelations in these versions, which are pretty faithful and just a touch more earthy and organic, but a general slightly new perspective on all of them, with a few bonus little details like the clarity of the "be the writer of your own story" refrain throughout "Strangest Thing" and the airy grandeur of the saxophone wherever it shows up.