The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Month
  • Books + Movies
  • About
13
new
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: VELOCITY MADE GOOD – “COMING UP THREES”
SPILL NEW MUSIC: WEATHERELL RELEASES NEW SINGLE “CANDY EYES” | DEBUT ALBUM ‘LONELY SOUL’ COMING SOON
SPILL NEWS: SHEBAD RELEASE “DANCING NONSTOP” | NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
SPILL NEW MUSIC: THE DURUTTI COLUMN RELEASE NEW SINGLE “SCAMMER” | NEW ALBUM ‘RENASCENT’ OUT JULY 31
SPILL NEW MUSIC: NEW REMIX BY VOLKER MILCH | PROTONAUT’S “IT’S NOT A PHASE, MOM”
SPILL NEW MUSIC: THEE SACRED SOULS ANNOUNCE TWO NEW 45s
SPILL NEWS: DINOSAUR JR. ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM OUT AUGUST 28 VIA JAGJAGUWAR + NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
SPILL NEWS: BRITISH MTV LEGEND THOMAS DOLBY & THE LOST TOY PEOPLE SET TO HEADLINE 2026 TOTALLY TUBULAR FESTIVAL | TOUR DATES KICK OFF NEXT MONTH
SPILL NEW MUSIC: CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA SHARES “THE MESSAGE IS LOVE” | NEW ALBUM ‘COHERENCE’ OUT JULY 31 ON MACK AVENUE RECORDS
SPILL NEWS: ALT-ROCK VETS SLOTHRUST RETURN WITH SURREALIST DISRUPTOR’S ANTHEM “BURN THE DECK” | NEW SINGLE STREAMING NOW VIA EQUAL VISION RECORDS
SPILL NEWS: TRICKY SHARES NEW SINGLE “I’M YOURS” FROM FORTHCOMING ALBUM OUT JULY 17 | NORTH AMERICAN TOUR THIS FALL
SPILL NEWS: THE MISSION TO RELEASE FIRST THREE ALBUMS IN NEWLY MASTERED VINYL EDITIONS
SPILL NEWS: SUGAR SHARE NEW SINGLE “KEEP LOOPING”
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Month
  • Books + Movies
  • About
  • Spill Menu
    • Reviews
      • Album Reviews
      • Features
      • Live Reviews
      • Festivals
    • Portraits
    • Headlines
      • News
      • Contests
      • Events
      • Entertainment Headlines
      • Concert Listings
      • Toronto Concert Venues
    • New Music
      • Premieres
      • Track Of The Day
    • Track Of The Month
    • Books + Movies
    • About
Album Reviews
812
Editor Pick
previous article
SPILL NEW MUSIC: MIKE SKILL OF THE ROMANTICS RELEASES NEW SINGLE "WE GOT YOUR ROCK'N ROLL"
next article
SPILL NEWS: TOWN BREWERY AND DIZZY SET TO RELEASE BEER ON NOVEMBER 26 WITH PORTION OF PROCEEDS SUPPORTING RAINBOW RAILROAD

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE WAR ON DRUGS – LIVE DRUGS

The War On Drugs

The War On Drugs
Live Drugs
Super High Quality Records

When The War On Drugs released their rightfully acclaimed Lost In a Dream album back in 2014, they were confirmed as certainly one of the best bands of the last decade. A Deeper Understanding from 2017 only confirmed that status. Since then, the band have been practically unheard of.

Maybe they like this three-year period between albums, or they have been on the road most of the time. But these days there are no “live in person” concerts, and if you haven’t had a chance to catch them live, with their new release, Live Drugs, the band shows that they are as potent live as they are on record.

Releasing a live album can be a double-edged sword for many artists. Such albums can include shoddy music, lousy musicianship, and terrible recordings. None of these are present here. Adam Granduciel and the band present some of their best music, the musical performance is outstanding, and the recording is crystal clear. All the more a true feat, keeping in mind that the band practically released this album by themselves, as a series of podcasts they are presenting as of the release of this album.

What we get is not just a live musical statement that shines, but yet another confirmation that we will hear more great things from The War On Drugs.



Artist Links

website_flat_2016 facebook_flat_2016 twitter_flat_2016 instagram_flat_2016

Editor Pick
Item Reviewed

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE WAR ON DRUGS – LIVE DRUGS

Author

Ljubinko Zivkovic

Here's what we think...
Spill Rating
Fan Rating
Rate Here
New Criteria
10
9.6
9.0
Total Spill Rating
9.6
Total Fan Rating
2 ratings
You have rated this
Album Reviews
album reviewalbum reviewslive drugssuper high quality recordsthe war on drugs
album review, album reviews, live drugs, super high quality records, the war on drugs
About the Author
Ljubinko Zivkovic
Formerly a lot of things, including a journalist and a translator, currently a freelance writer living in The Netherlands.
RELATED ARTICLES
album reviewalbum reviewssuper high quality records
 
7.0
JJerome87

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JJEROME87 – THE CANYON

by John Porter on June 26, 2026
JJEROME87 THE CANYON MUSHROOM MUSIC | VIRGIN Alt-J frontman Joe Newman transforms, chameleon-like, into JJerome87 for The Canyon, his solo debut, and his music goes with him. Never one to miss a chance for innovation, Newman sets his stall out [...]
 
7.0
Pat Travers

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PAT TRAVERS – HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED – LIVE IN HOUSTON, TX – MARCH 20, 2004

by Aaron Badgley on June 26, 2026
PAT TRAVERS HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED – LIVE IN HOUSTON, TX – MARCH 20, 2004 CLEOPATRA RECORDS Pat Travers continues to mine his live archive for never-before-released concerts for fans to enjoy. And it’s great that he does it too. This [...]
 
8.0
Cate Kennan

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CATE KENNAN – SHADOWS

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on June 26, 2026
CATE KENNAN SHADOWS KRANKY Working in that not so defined musical ground between ethereal and dream pop can be a tricky affair, as it is currently populated by quite a few artists, and any relative newcomer is bound to be compared to somebody [...]
 
8.0
knitting

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: KNITTING – SOUVENIR

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on June 26, 2026
KNITTING SOUVENIR MINT RECORDS Montreal’s knitting does love the sound of their guitars (quite evident on their debut Some Kind of Heaven from 2024), but simply labelling them as a slacker band, particularly listening to Souvenir, their [...]
 
8.0
proun

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PROUN – MAYBE LUCK

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on June 26, 2026
PROUN MAYBE LUCK GOOD ENGLISH RECORDS We can keep guessing (or not) at what Austin, TX trio proun had in mind when they named its debut album Maybe Luck, but it is hard to hear that the luck is involved in its music, as it can go from a whisper [...]

Latest Album Reviews
View All
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JJEROME87 – THE CANYON
7.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PAT TRAVERS – HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED –...
7.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CATE KENNAN – SHADOWS
8.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: KNITTING – SOUVENIR
8.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PROUN – MAYBE LUCK
8.0

STAY UP-TO-DATE
WITH OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER!

SPILL MAGAZINE MENU
  • Home | The Spill Magazine
  • Newsletter
  • Premieres
  • Track Of The Month
  • Album Reviews
  • Books + Movies
  • Features
  • Live Reviews
  • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • News
  • Events
  • Entertainment Headlines
  • Concert Listings
  • Toronto Concert Venues
  • About Us
  • Contests
  • New Music
  • Contributors
  • TOTD
  • Privacy Policy
  • The Scene Unseen
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2026 | The Spill Magazine
All Rights Reserved.

TRENDING RIGHT NOW
   
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SOCIAL DISTORTION – BORN TO KILL
1240
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BRIAN WILSON – ON TOUR 1999-2007
811
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: TORI AMOS – IN TIMES OF DRAGONS
760
 
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: SHAMUS – “SORCERESS”
755
 
SPILL NEWS: SUGAR SHARE NEW SINGLE “KEEP LOOPING”
676
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JOE JACKSON – HOPE AND FURY
672
 
SPILL FEATURE: LET’S JUST START AGAIN – A CONVERSATION WITH NICK HEYWARD & LES NEMES OF HAIRCUT 100
632
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NOAH KAHAN – THE GREAT DIVIDE
600
 
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: IAMX – “INFINITE FEAR JETS {MIMETIC HEXES REWORK}”
594
 
SPILL FEATURE: WE ARE TRYING TO KEEP THINGS INTERESTING FOR OURSELVES – A CONVERSATION WITH JOHN LINNELL OF THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
553
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER – I’M PEOPLE
493
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DOUBLESPEAK – DOUBLESPEAK
470
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MODEST MOUSE – AN ERASER AND A MAZE
470
ENTERTAINMENT HEADLINES