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[STONED AMERICANA] The bifurcation of the careers of Kurt Vile and Adam Granduciel could've gone a lot worse. Vile left the War On Drugs in 2008, but pegging indie-rock's benevolent stoner laureate as the Jeff Tweedy to Granduciel's Jay Farrar is an unfair assessment. With no apparent animosity dividing two branches of the same classic-rock tree, we'll concede that no one gives a shit and move on to Lost in the Dream, the War On Drugs' latest outstanding release. Granduciel's voice has migrated away from the timbre of his buddy Vile toward the realm of '80s radio god territory: Close your eyes and, amid the shimmers of chorus-heavy guitars and smoky organs, you'll hear Don Henley on Ambien. If played sequentially in a live scenario—doubtful, given the equal amounts of acclaim heaped upon 2011's Slave Ambient—the album is an ecstatic experience tailor-made for both the dad-rocker and his burnout kids. Stash the bong and double-knot your dancing shoes for "Red Eyes," the band's finest effort yet in getting baked-out psych-dudes to cut loose on the dance floor. Get lost in the haze—or the beer line—any other time.
WWeek 2015
