War on Drugs wages our kind of musical war and has renewed their campaign in earnest with the recent release of new album, “Slave Ambient,” on the strong and not-so-secret label, Secretly Canadian.  Philadelphia’s Adam Granduciel, Dave Hartley, Robbie Bennett and Steven Urgo create an engagingly updated Byrds-meets-Dylan-in-Petty’s-dressing-room-in-2011 sound that you oft-times don’t want to end.  And that hypnotic jangle is the value that War on Drugs has added to the influences, and which has quickly become our drug of choice.

Check out a few great examples below.  First up is the hypno-jangle of Brothers as performed for The L Magazine.  After hearing this song and Granduciel’s vocals you won’t be surprised to learn that Kurt Vile used to be in the band (until 2008) before heading out on his own.  The second video is, Best Night, the opening track off of “Slave Ambient” (as performed for L Magazine–you can skip past some interview bits and “favorite pedal” discussion to Best Night at 4:00).  The next video is a driving acoustic version of that same song (Best Night) as performed on KDHX in St. Louis.  And finally check out the official video for the song, Come to the City, which Secretly Canadian calls “the sprawling centerpiece” to the new album.

War on Drugs are supposed to be addicting live and will be touring next March with the sublime Sarah Van Etten.  They’ll play the following West Coast dates:

03/20/12 Los Angeles, CA – The Avalon w/ Sharon Van Etten
03/21/12 San Francisco, CA – The Independent w/ Sharon Van Etten
03/23/12 Portland, OR – Aladdin Theatre w/ Sharon Van Etten
03/24/12 Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore Cabaret w/ Sharon Van Etten