The War on Drugs - Wagonwheel Blues (New Vinyl LP)

Their songs recall the 80s guitar army of Sonic Youth with the captivating lyrics and vocal styling’s of Tom Petty or Bruce Springsteen. Walls of guitar - acoustic, electric, twelve string - douse each track of this debut, threatening to cast the band into space rock territory, but the melodies and immediately identifiable lyrics keep these songs grounded. It's one of those albums that each of US holds onto tightly. They get moved from apartment to apartment through the years; they're songs on the radio that follow US from town to town. They evoke waves of nostalgia and grow more poignant with each new bump along the road.