6A — Wednesday, September 6, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ALBUM REVIEW
ATLANTIC RECORDS
The War on Drugs return with another stunner
War on Drugs make sense
of the world on new album
War on Drugs’ latest album shows the band’s move from
heavy reliance on influences to more natural and meaningful
Authenticity
is
more
important
than
originality.
Yet, we value the latter more
and lampoon music that sounds
obviously derivative of other
artists. Ripping someone off
is pathetic — something that
can be a hefty lawsuit — but
incorporating
elements
of
other artists is the driving force
behind
artistic
progression.
Nothing
is
every
purely
authentic: The War on Drugs, a
band that wears its influences
on its sleeve, embraces this
wholeheartedly.
Especially at the beginning
of
careers,
most
great
bands
sound
like
someone
else before they fully grow
into
their
distinct
sound.
Radiohead initially had a pretty
straightforward britpop style
before OK Computer shattered
everyone’s expectations of rock
music. Pink Floyd emerged in
the late ’60s as just another
Psychedelic Rock band oozing
with whimsicality and dripping
with
LSD
before
releasing
prog-rock masterpieces Meddle
and The Dark Side
of the Moon. The
War
on
Drugs
began as one big
love letter to Bob
Dylan, and since
then, everyone is
quick to point this
out, along with
similarities
to
Bruce Springsteen
and
other
’80s
heartland
rockers.
By now, the comparisons
have
grown
old.
Even
though
Adam
Granduciel,
the
band’s
frontman
and
creative powerhouse, doesn’t
shy away from allowing his
influences to shine through, no
contemporary musician sounds
anything like them, not even
his past collaborator Kurt Vile.
Granduciel’s
combination
of
pulsating synths and guitar
hooks layered with effects has
become a unique trademark
in contemporary music. With
their fourth album, A Deeper
Understanding,
The
War
on
Drugs
has
proven
that
they’re capable
of
producing
authentic
work
without
the
restraint
of
sounding
completely
original.
In
2014,
Lost
in
the
Dream
shocked
thousands
and became, arguably, the
most beloved rock album of
the year. Granduciel takes
listeners from the bleakest
depths of depression and
heartbreak
—
songs
like
“Under the Pressure” and
“Disappearing”
—
to
the
relieving
feeling
after
conquering
your
crushing
anxiety — like the freeing
melodies of “Eyes to the
Wind” and the energetic
optimism
of
“Burning.”
Every
emotion
tied
to
heartbreak
is
present.
It’s a breakup album that
questions love and the pain
it causes, and what it means
to grow as a person.
A Deeper Understanding,
a
deceiving
name,
sees
Granduciel still looking for
answers to these questions
in
his
pursuit
of
self
growth. Despite a plethora
of success following Lost in
the Dream — signing onto
Atlantic Records, entering
a relationship with Krysten
Ritter (“Jessica Jones”) and
deserved critical acclaim —
Granduciel is still struggling
to resolve his own pitfalls
and anxieties. “I’ve been
through it / I always have
paranoia that I would not
last” Granduciel sings on
the opening track “Up All
Night,” a jittery yet upbeat
song
that
progressively
builds layer upon layer of
drums and synths. It’s clear
from the beginning that A
Deeper Understanding is by
no means a resolution album
where
Granduciel
cures
himself of the same feelings
of loneliness evident on Lost
in the Dream.
The band released five
singles
anticipating
the
album’s release, and with
each one, it became clear the
album wouldn’t disappoint.
“Thinking of a Place,” a
sprawling
11-minute
epic
released earlier in April
for Record Store Day, was
A Deeper
Understanding
The War on Drugs
Atlantic Records
It’s impossible not to fall
in love with “Consolation”
Ford’s recent novel explores the intricacies of love in a
challenging environment with a bittersweet, if quick, end
I don’t think I’ve ever read a
book that had everything I was
looking for and more until I
read Jamie Ford’s newest novel
“Love and Other Consolation
Prizes.” I laughed, I cried, I
hoped for it to never end and
I circled some of the most
endearing paragraphs in red
ink so many times that I nearly
put a tear in the page.
Ford’s
story
follows
Ernest
Young, a 12 year
old half-Chinese
boy entranced by
the 1909 World’s
Fair in Seattle.
After surviving a
terrifying month
on an immigrant
ship from Asia,
Ernest lives as a
charity student at a boarding
school where the treatment is
nearly as harsh as on the ship.
The opportunity to attend the
fair seems nothing short of a
dream, until he realizes that he
is the prize and will be raffled
off as a servant to the highest
bidder at the fair. Ernest is
raffled off to the madam of a
high class brothel where his
life changes forever when he
meets the precocious young
daughter of the madam — the
fiery scullery maid, Fahn. For
the first time in his life, Ernest
feels as though he has a family,
and has found himself a real
home. There is an immediate
sense of comfort between the
residents of the brothel and
Ernest thus making him feel
incredibly comfortable.
Fifty years later, in the dark
shadow of the second World’s
Fair, Ernest struggles to bring
his ailing wife, who is suffering
from dementia and illness,
back to the woman she once
was. He constantly avoids the
memories of his childhood and
keeps his family secrets hidden
from his grown up daughters.
The
story
jumps
from
Ernest’s
tumultuous
albeit
adventurous
past
to
his
dragging and difficult present,
creating
a
relationship
between the two worlds, as
Ernest’s family, and he himself,
discover who he really is.
The
story
of
Ernest’s
childhood
is
interesting
and historical, feeling just
enough like an
anachronism
that 1909 should.
The
culture
of
the
brothel,
matched with the
descriptions
of
their progressive
and
cultural
outside
world
fits
the
time
period perfectly.
The detail included in the
descriptions of the house and
the lifestyle of the brothel is
magically compelling in a way
that makes the book impossible
to put down.
The early 1900s juxtaposes
with the early 1960s in the most
wonderful way, making for a
comfortable switch between
time periods. It is between
these two time periods that
the reader can understand
Ernest as not just a character
in a book, but as the imaginary
manifestation of real struggles
and issues that many people
can relate to.
The story is told in prose
that spends generous time
describing the setting and
characters, making both seem
incredibly real. The reader
falls just as in love with the
two strong female characters
as Ernest does, is incredibly
entranced by the bossy Madam
and her swirl of anxiety and
depression
and
becomes
charmed by the brothel’s kind
and witty piano player. There
is something endearing about
being placed in the heart
of Ernest’s struggle in the
beginning of the story, sailing
to America right beside him
and falling in love right when
he does.
The
novel
is
truly
an
exceptional piece of fiction.
It’s a family story that largely
surrounds the nature of love;
however, it is also dangerous,
promiscuous,
sweet,
naive
and intelligent. All of these
things at once make for an
intoxicating
yet
pleasant
literary cocktail.
My only wish was that it was
longer. I could have lingered in
the streets of Seattle below a
large looming Ferris Wheel, in
the kitchen with Fahn or in a
restaurant booth with Ernest’s
wife for much longer than I did
in the pages I held in my hands.
Ultimately, it inspired me to
read more of Ford’s work and to
invest in more Asian-American
literature about the lives of
Asian Americans. I only hope
people gravitate toward this
paperback in the future, and
fall in love with it as quickly as
I did.
“Love and Other
Consolation
Prizes”
Jamie Ford
September 12th,
2017
BOOK REVIEW
WILL STEWART
Daily Arts Writer
It’s a family
story that largely
surrounds the
nature of love;
however, it is
also dangerous,
promiscuous,
sweet, naive and
intelligent
ELI RALLO
Daily Arts Writer
the first glimpse to see how
Granduciel
had
progressed
over the three years since Lost
in the Dream. The band’s best
qualities — crackling guitar
solos, heavy synths and lyrics
evoking a sense of longing —
were all in top form. Although
dense and long, “Thinking of a
Place” is one of the band’s most
conventional rock songs with
one of the best guitar solos
in recent memory. The song
embodies the imagery of a self
reflective road trip through
the
American
countryside
(truth be told, most of their
music embodies this cliché).
The War on Drugs packs the
most weight into “Strangest
Thing,”
which
became
an
instant classic among their
stacked
catalog.
The
song
breaks
down
halfway
into
an explosion of synths and a
guitar solo, each instrument
complementing
the
other
as if they’re part of a world
class
symphony.
Following
this is “Knocked Down,” a
ballad, rare for the band, that
favors piano over guitar. It’s
their
most
stripped
down
and
resembles
“Suffering,”
though it ultimately fails to
dethrone its Lost in the Dream
counterpart.
Unlike
past
records,
A
Deeper Understanding departs
from a more atmospheric sound
in favor of more conventional
rock
qualities.
The
closest
Granduciel gets to this ambient
style is on the closing track,
“You Don’t Have to Go.” But
even here, its light, ethereal
feeling is achieved without
sacrificing a straightforward
structure, using harmonicas
and real instruments to create
such a lush sound. Its nearly
seven minute length feels much
shorter — at no point do their
songs drag and feel longer than
a more traditional three-and-a-
half minute pop song.
The closest they get to
producing another “Red Eyes,”
the most successful single from
Lost in the Dream, is “Holding
On.” It opens with a fast paced
synth hook, then leads into
piercing guitars. Every aspect
about it, from the vocals to
the catchy Springsteen-esque
chimes, makes for an accessible
jam that, if maybe a minute or
two shorter, could very well be
a smash hit. But it’s “Nothing to
Find,” an exhilarating heater
of a song, that sticks out as the
most vibrant. Essentially, this
is the song a dad would play to
pump up his son before a Little
League baseball game.
A
Deeper
Understanding
isn’t necessarily a better album
than Lost in the Dream, but it
doesn’t have to be. It’s one more
milestone for Granduciel in his
attempt to make meaning of
the world around him. He has
managed to gain popularity
making music that is by no
means the most popular style
of today, a testament to his
masterful
musicianship.
In
times of joy and times of misery,
The War on Drugs once again
delivers an album to cope with
the emotions we can’t ignore,
the feelings of falling in and out
of love and the harrowing self-
doubt we face.
The reader falls
just as in love with
the two strong
female characters
as Ernest does,
and is incredibly
entranced by the
bossy Madam
and her swirl
of anxiety and
depression
A Deeper
Understanding
isn’t necessarily a
better album than
Lost in the Dream,
but it doesn’t have
to be
PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE
Jamie Ford, the author of “Love and
Other Consolation Prizes”
Arts