Slave Ambient, by the War on Drugs, was another recent emusic download that took only a couple listens to win me over.

The overall sound of the album is fresh but familiar. The instrumentals are a mix of propulsive rhythms, interesting background synths, and multiple guitars that are layered, sweep-filtered, and perfectly jangle-y. But even with a good amount of experimental, psychedelic haziness, their music is all based in a well-known melodic framework reminiscent of artists like Bruce Springsteen, Arcade Fire and even U2. But it’s probably frontman Adam Granduciel’s vocals that really provide the familiar sonic pallete. It’s almost like someone took a little bit of Dylan, Springsteen, Petty and Westerberg and wrapped them all up into a younger, mellower vocal doppelganger.

“Baby Missiles’ is a great cut, but it’s only one of many standout tracks. In fact, I can’t really just choose one “song of the day” for this, so we’re going to include a couple more:

“Best Night”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpuxG9OZXpE

“Original Slave”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDOw-ql-hjM

I highly recommend digging into the entire album.