Philly's War on Drugs get first No. 1 song on Billboard chart with 'Pain'

"Pain" beat out tracks like Beck's "Up All Night," "Los Angeles" by St. Vincent, and Portugal. The Man's "Live In the Moment."

Philadelphia band The War on Drugs have nabbed their first number-one song on a Billboard chart with “Pain,” a track from their most recent album, A Deeper Understanding.

“Pain” has topped Billboard’s Adult Alternative Songs chart, beating out Beck’s “Up All Night,” “Los Angeles” by St. Vincent, and Portugal. The Man’s “Live In the Moment.” Nielsen Music reports that the song has earned some two million audience impressions as of Sunday.

A Deeper Understanding itself, meanwhile, topped out at number two on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums and Alternative Albums following its August 2017 release, Billboard reports. A previous single from the album, “Holding On,” topped out at number three on the Alternative Songs chart.

The War on Drugs are a current indie favorite, with the New Yorker last year calling the group — vocalist Adam Granduciel, bassist David Hartley, keyboardist Robbie Bennett, drummer Charlie Hall, guitarist Anthony LaMarca, and saxophonist Jon Natchez — the “best American ‘rock’ band of the decade.” Inquirer music critic Dan DeLuca is also a fan, having named A Deeper Understanding one of the best albums of 2017, as well as “the luxurious rock album of the year, by a wide margin.”

Despite that success, though, The War on Drugs likely won’t be leaving Philly anytime soon, as frontman Granduciel told the Inquirer last year.

“The other important thing to me is I really wanted to keep the band in Philly. This is where I had that spark and decided that I wanted to pursue music even when it meant not knowing anybody,” he said. “Philly was that place for me. It’s the root of who I am.”

 

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