The Current

Great Music Lives Here ®
Listener-Supported Music
Donate Now

The Chart Show: The War On Drugs Rise To The Top

The War on Drugs perform at The Current's MicroShow at the Turf Club.
The War on Drugs perform at The Current's MicroShow at the Turf Club.Nate Ryan | MPR

by Mark Wheat

October 05, 2017

The War On Drugs rise to the top this week buoyed by fans trying to win tickets to their sold out show at The Palace Oct 18th. If you want to live vicariously there's probably no better way than through the review from another great music town, Austin TX, "Granduciel's creations transport to a place that's hard to pin down on a timeline, but it most certainly engenders a grand universality."

Looks like only single seats are left for the #2, LCD Soundsystem show Nov 9th at Roy Wilkins. I've had the album in my home rotation recently and I think it'll be my fave of the year. As a lyrics-man I like discovering gems such as, "I liked the way your hair looked when you watched musicians."

The National, stuck at #3 again, have been doing some unusual covers during their tour so far, Talking Heads, New Order and recently... Queen!

Foo Fighters bounce up 6 places this week, described as ..."the most dependable rock band of the 21st Century", by Jim McGuinn in his Album of the Week review. They also have some dependable guests joining them on the new album, including Justin Timberlake and Sir Macca!

St. Vincent is inducted to The Chart Hall of Fame for the fifth time, putting her at 21 on the All Time Hall of Fame. Her 'Fear The Future' tour hits The Palace on November 18, and if you're brave enough to go, be prepared for her to ask you to go through some kind of 'experience', like she did the BBC reporter who just wrote one of the most bizarre interview stories I've ever read.

Although Feist slipped down a place this week, her Pleasure album has also made it on to my Top 10 of the year list so far. It's a lot more 'bluesy, organic and ephemeral' than I was expecting and that you might, given the pounding stridency of this first single. After playing only a few more shows on the west coast she'll take a break and cunningly spend the first part of winter in the southern hemisphere!

U2 bounce back after a week's hiatus ahead of the release of their Songs of Experience on December 1. They just released an acoustic version of the song.

Grizzly Bear are the ONLY new entry this week at #20. They just released a video for another track from the recent 'Painted Ruins' album which Pitchfork describes as, "Like David Lynch meets The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills meets Heathers!"

Submit your Chart Show ballot this week for a chance to win a pair of passes to Kings of Leon at the Xcel Energy Center!