I Don’t Live Here Anymore by The War on Drugs

We’re now a month into 2022, I’m 48 years old, my kids are 13 and 4, and I’m finally willing to admit it: I love dad rock. My parents raised me on classic rock (shout out to KMOD 97.5 FM in Tulsa, Oklahoma). My tastes have been shaped by a heavy foundation of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and The Eagles (for better or worse). I’m aware that a lot of what I have loved in the past decade could be categorized as dad rock – previous Top 31 #1s like The National, Elbow, Phosphorescent, and Bon Iver all qualify. But none of those are so obviously Dad Rock with a capital D as the #1 of 2021: The War of Drugs. I’m fairly certain if you look up “dad rock” in the dictionary, you’ll find a glamour shot of lead singer / songwriter Adam Granduciel, with his flowing locks, vaseline smeared on the lens, with ghostlike images of his band flanked around him.

I Don’t Live Here Anymore, their fifth studio album, quickly jumped into the running for top album when it was released on October 29, 2021. At the time, I had already convinced myself that Big Red Machine was going to be my #1, given how much my family loved hearing How Long Do You Think It‘s Going to Last over the year. But the first time I heard that strong piano ring out on the opening song of Anymore (“Living Proof,” shown in the video above - hit play on that right now while you read on), my knees got shaky, my confidence wavered. There’s just something about Granduciel’s raspy voice, his beautiful songwriting, his strong melodies — this album grabbed ahold of my playlist and muscled its way to the front. My wife fell in love with it, too – we must have listened to the album at least three times a week from the day it came out. And the excitement when it comes on hasn’t yet worn off – will it ever?

The War on Drugs perfected the form: that classic rock sound of the 70s and 80s, in songs about lost love while driving down the highway over sweeping crescendos and slow guitar solos. This album took me back to my childhood so much that I actually sent the album to my dad for Christmas, and of course he loves it, too. Truly Dad Rock. I dare you to listen to the fourth song, “I Don’t Wanna Wait,” and not picture in your mind’s eye a musical montage showing Crockett and Tubbs flying across the waves of the Atlantic in a speedboat on their way to break up a cocaine deal gone bad.

Granduciel, whose real name is Adam Granofsky, leads the charge in the band, but there’s five other members who make up the current lineup: David Hartley on bass, Robbie Bennett on keyboards, Charlie Hall on drums, Jon Natchez on sax and Anthony LaMarca on rhythm guitar. Various members have dropped in an out since they formed in 2005 (including Kurt Vile, who was an original member before breaking off for his own solo work), but this lineup has been intact since their third album, Lost in the Dream took the world by storm (and appeared at #13 in the Top 31 that year).

This is now the third album put out by this particular War on Drugs lineup. In addition to Dream, their last album, A Deeper Understanding, also appeared on the Top 31, but it was near the bottom at #29 in 2017, mainly due to me not giving the proper chance. It won Best Rock Album at the Grammys that year. I have no excuse, but I do plan on returning to it, thanks to the strength of Anymore.

And Anymore is such a strong album. I recommend headphones when you put it on. Granduciel is legendary for the amount of time he spends on the production of his albums. Hints of Jimmy Iovine’s production of Tom Petty’s Damn the Torpedoes run throughout. It’s a pristine recording, something you can’t hear just anywhere. One of my favorite sounds in all of music is the quick, high-pitched yet intimate sound that the pads of fingers make when quickly moved up and down the neck of a guitar while searching for that next chord. Listen for it – once you hear it, you can’t stop hearing it.

Granduciel and band have found the top of the mountain. The tip top comes at the second song on the album, “Harmonia’s Dream.” At nearly six and a half minutes, it builds an amazing wall of sounds across two verses and choruses before taking a turn at 2:45 when the keyboards pierce through at the three minute mark into an extended bridge that will leave you in a fit of anticipation but the time the full band kicks in again at the 4:45 point. Then everything hits all at once and you’re moving and shaking uncontrollably when the guitar solo kicks in at 5:15. “You’re on your own” the band sings in harmony – and they’re right. The world has melted away, the bad is gone, and you’re left with pure joy.

The title song is also fantastic, with the gorgeous harmonies of Lucius filling in the chorus.

Granduciel appeared on Song Exploder to talk about the making of this song, how Lucius got involved, how the end of the first stanza is filled with nonsense words… it’s a good listen.

The War on Drugs hit peak form, and I’m very curious to hear where they head next. Similar to the Nation of Language album at #4, I have trouble imagining them continuing without breaking out of their tried-and-true format. But they’ve done it consistently now for three albums, so maybe the formula is so dialed in that it doesn’t need to change. It’s clear that what started in the 70s and 80s has retained enough uncharted territory to leave room for new music here in the 2020s. I’m so excited to hear what’s next, and hopefully it hits on all the right 40-year-old notes.

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i,i by Bon Iver

Justin Vernon, the driving force behind Bon Iver, has been a personal favorite of mine since his debut album For Emma, Forever Ago was released back in 2007. Every one of his releases has been on the Top 31 since the list’s inception (his Blood Bank EP was #17 in 2009, the self-titled Bon Iver was #6 in 2011, and his 2016 album, 22, A Million, was at the top of the list that year and is most definitely in my top 30-50 albums of all time, but I’ve never put that list to paper).

i,i, his fourth full-length album, is yet another beautiful feather in Vernon’s cap. With its release, Bon Iver has reached potential “greatest band” status according to my and my good friend Morgan’s self-imposed rule that governs such things: an artist must have four top-rated albums to qualify for such vaunted categorization. The fact that it’s his first four albums is a feat rarely achieved in music at any time, let alone in modern day. In trying to think of another band’s initial four albums that can be rated in the same way, my mind has to go all the way back to Led Zeppelin I-IV to find a similar stretch of greatness. Nearly unprecedented. As I’m writing this, I’m probably going to regret ranking i,i at #9. Bon Iver’s albums tend to surprise me in their longevity. I may have listened to other bands’ output more in 2019, but it’s probably i,i that I’ll be reaching for regularly in five years time.

The album features an impressive list of collaborators. The band itself has a larger roster than on previous albums: Justin Vernon on vocals, keyboards, guitar; Sean Carey on drums, keyboards, vocals; Matthew McCaughan on drums, vocals; Michael Lewis on bass, saxophone, keyboards, vocals; Andrew Fitzpatrick on guitar, keyboards, vocals; and Jenn Wasner on guitar, vocals. Additionally, James Blake, Aaron Dessner, and Bruce Hornsby all feature prominently across the album.

The songs themselves feel in keeping with 22, a million, but more deconstructed, as if the band picked up the blips, bloops, and blorks from the proverbial cutting room floor and reassembled them into a compelling whole. “Hey, Ma” is the highlight of the production, followed quickly by “U (Man Like)”. Taken out of context, these two songs feel like they could easily have come from a long-lost Bruce Hornsby album. I would have never in a million years drawn a line from Hornsby (he of “The Way It Is” with his band The Range) to Iver, if not for the fact that Hornsby is actually on this album. Knowing that fact, it’s impossible to not see his influence, in the best way possible.

I’m blown away by Vernon’s consistency and departures across his four albums. If you were a fan of 22, a million then you’ll love this new Bon Iver album. Check it out as soon as you can.

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10. Kiwanuka by Michael Kiwanuka
11. The Destroyer (Parts 1 + 2) by TR/ST
12. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? by Billie Eilish
13. Cheap Queen by King Princess
14. Anima by Thom Yorke
15. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Parts 1 + 2 by Foals
16. Gallipoli by Beirut
17. My Finest Work Yet by Andrew Bird
18. Four of Arrows by Great Grandpa
19. Designer by Aldous Harding
20. Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Rey
21. Our Pathetic Age by DJ Shadow
22. Juice B Crypts by Battles
23. Pony by Orville Peck
24. Hyperspace by Beck
25. Eraserland by Strand of Oaks
26. Dogrel by Fontaines DC
27. You’re the Man by Marvin Gaye
28. Big Wows by Stealing Sheep
29. 1000 gecs by 100 gecs
30. In the Morse Code of Brake Lights by The New Pornographers
31. Radiant Dawn by Operators

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2009-2018 Top 31s

#1 on the 2021 Bacon Top 31 — The War on Drugs

#9 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — Bon Iver