On Friday, the R5 roster at the First Unitarian Church (22nd and Chestnut streets) is boasting the Thermals, a punkish pop band from the watery streets of Portland, Ore.
Last year saw the threesome — who boast cerebral lyricism spliced with the driving and gut-wrenching energy of punk — catapult into the stratosphere of under-the-radar hype.
Dubbed one of the top 20 bands of 2006 by the national indie-rock mag Pitchfork, the Thermals have been enjoying their newfound fame, booking more shows and releasing several videos to accompany their songs.
All the praise is well-deserved. Even if their lead vocalist sometimes sounds a bit too much like the Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle, the Thermals offer up that winning combination of music that is both physically and mentally stimulating.
But alas, the Thermals are not the reason you should head out to the church on Friday night. Well, not the best reason anyway.
In a kind of convoluted way, I’m going to make a singular "band to watch in 2008" observation: The War on Drugs.
The Philly band isn’t the headliners, or even the runners-up, for that matter. You’ll have to arrive plenty early to catch their set, but I do believe it’ll be worth the trip.
Just last month, the local six-piece was scooped up by Chicago’s Secretly Canadian label and a full-length debut album is the works.
In past columns, Music Row has featured other Secretly Canadian artists, such as Swearing at Motorists, David Vandervelde and Richard Swift, so The War on Drugs is in good company.
That leap to a well-known indie label is a surprisingly quick ascension for a band that has been around for just a little over a year, with 2006’s eight-track Barrel of Batteries their only recorded album.
Understandably, that short collection of songs was a confidence-inspiring work for the A&R folks over at Secretly Canadian who picked it up.
You can stream Barrel of Batteries (and heaps of other good Philly and national acts) for free online at apolloaudio.com. On Batteries, The War on Drugs offers a take on folk somewhere between Animal Collective and Bob Dylan, with songs like the opener’s loopy, abstract and shimmering acoustic guitar work followed by the more traditional and concrete ArmsLike Boulders. Of course, it isn’t as if War on Drugs simply appeared out of thin air. In particular, the band seems to have garnered its speedy acceptance from the dynamic created by the collaboration of several prominent Philly rockers, recalling a localized version of bands like the Traveling Wilburys or, more obscurely, the Masked Marauders.
At the core is chief songwriter and arranger Adam Granduciel, bassist for the acclaimed Philly indie rockers the Capitol Years.
Granduciel took his creations and sought out a fantastic set of musicians to weave the tracks on Batteries. Included in that troupe is the prolific and semi-audacious Kurt Vile, who has (perhaps jokingly) declared himself "Philly’s Constant Hit-maker."
Despite the caustic name, Vile has more in common with John Fahey than, say, punk rockers like Johnny Rotten, and is known as a sort of mysterious purveyor of weird acoustic finger-picking. Over the years, Vile has released somewhere around a dozen EPs and full-lengths, but is now just starting to come into his own.
With The War on Drugs, Vile contributes vocals, guitar and something described as a "Les Paul Chime Generator," which may or may not have been used for time travel in Back to the Future II. Also joining Granduciel, who provides guitar, organ and vocals, are fellow Capitol Years cohorts Shai Halperin and Kyle Lloyd.
Lloyd plays drums, and is joined in that role by Charlie Hall, giving the band the ability to launch into percussionist assaults worthy of a DEA swat team. For his part, Halperin takes on the electric guitar and keyboard.
Lastly, Dave Hartley, a multi-band man, takes on bass for The War on Drugs.
It is important to know, however, that each of these musicians may be doing a very different thing on the stage than what they’ve done on the album. Which makes it all the more fun and important to check them out when you can. After all, you never know when you’ll get the chance to see them again — or what form they might take. ••
Check it out . . . Who: The War on Drugs
What: An ensemble of some of Philly’s best, charting a new course through the weird folk universe.
Where: The First Unitarian Church, 22nd and Chestnut streets.
When: Friday, Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m. (WOD opens). Tickets are $12.