The War on Drugs’ ‘Strangest Thing’
The War on Drugs have steadily released some of the decade’s most consistently great rock music: gauzy Americana that conjures visions of Bruce Springsteen in their cinematic guitar melodies and Tom Petty in frontman Adam Granduciel’s reedy vocals. Many of the Philadelphia band’s best songs open at a racehorse’s pace, but
Strangest Thing, the second track from their new album, A Deeper Understanding (out Aug. 25), slows down for a dreamy six minutes of high-drama synths and knockout guitar solos. Granduciel is blessed with a voice that recalls any number of classicrock heroes, as he meditates on “living in the space between the beauty and the pain” before the song ’s cacophonous instrumentals take over.