The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient (2011) [Secretly Canadian] // Grade: B+

The project of guitarist/vocalist Adam Granduciel, The War on Drugs return to Secretly Canadian with Slave Ambient, a 47-minute collection that hitchhikes some fine line between Americana simplicity, sprawling psych pop and paced Euro-rhythmic textures. It might sound like a strange nexus on paper but Granduciel leads a team of Philly’s best musicians (including Dave Hartley, the man behind last year’s fantastic Nightlands project) through this 12-track trip to follow their 2008 debut, Wagonwheel Blues. Immersed in finding the seeds of American classic rock, unearthing its inner core and spitting it as far across the line as they can, Slave glides through lulling drone and kraut rock, hazy electronica soundscapes and dusty drifter folk tunes all rubbed with the Vaseline of Spaceman 3′s records. The album sounds best loud and under headphones, preferably with some empty stretch of road in front of you.

The first record since founding member Kurt Vile departed, Slave’s underlying foundation is the guitar-case-schlepping hitchhiker where songs of highways, morning views and carefree comfort act as currency. Granduciel lets opener “Best Night” explain the journey we’re in for, “A thousand miles behind, with a million more to drive,” but it’s midway track “Come to My City” that acts as the album’s token setting. “I’ve been rambling, I’m just drifting,” as he leads us up the song’s mesmerizing peak. “Lead me back to the one I love, all roads lead to me, I’ve been moving, I’ve been drifting.”

The band wear their influences proudly — Tom Petty, Springsteen, Lloyd Cole, Neu!, Arcade Fire and Dylan — all over an album that took four years to finish. The collection possesses some off-guard marriage of styles that few bands have managed to approach and master as well as these Philly boys have. Must-hear tracks “Come to My City” and “Your Love Is Calling My Name” can stand on their own for years, but the entire record is full of mentionable and approachable songs worthy of any road trip tape’s tracking. “Baby Missiles” finds Arcade Fire drunk on Midwest hospitality; “I Was There” hits like The Velvet Teen’s 2004 album of piano-rolling epics, “Elysium” and shiner “Brothers” takes the best of the corner bar jukebox’s most-played and adds perfect lyrics like “Come on down, light the fire in my heart” for you to salute with glasses raised.

Outside of its recycled, almost mushy reliance on romanticizing the freedom of drifter tunes, Slave Ambient hits little bumps along the way. Drenched in colorful mist, staring down the open blacktop and drunk on American whiskey, Slave Ambient proves that Granduciel and Co. Are able to confront their varied, sometimes un-linkable favorites to create something that’s intricate, pleasing and maybe, has a strong potential to only get better with age.

- The Holloweyed