As I’ve mentioned, its taken quite a while for me to finally get a chance to see Cold War Kids. Freed and I caught them Friday night at the Troubadour, and they pretty much rocked our socks off (see, not everyone in L.A. wears flip-flops everywhere). But let me back up and mention that they recently announced the tracklist to their debut, which comes out October 16th. I’ll admit I was a little disappointed that all of the songs have already been released on EP’s and in the recent Daytrotter Session, but they are most of the better songs, and it will be interested to see how they re-record and/or master them for the record.
Cold War Kids really make the most of a stage; the guitarist and bassist are in constant motion, circling in a way that seams to be lead by the desires of their instruments rather than their own intuition. Meanwhile lead singer, Nate Willett, switches between the piano at the side of the stage and addressing the crowd from the microphone at the center. Their stuff has a bluesy feel, but with a definite garage rock backbone, and they showed off their grasp of that sound early in the set with a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “State Trooper.” I don’t think there is any denying that “Hospital Beds” and “Hang Me Up To Dry” are their best songs. But it was surprising how well the rest of the songs sounded live. Even “Saint John,” which is one of my least favorite of theirs, was great live. It seemed like the whole venue was taking turns on vocals, with the crowd howling out the chorus, and then Nate basically rapping the rest. “Heavy Boots” turned into a claptastic event that would have made even the worst blog Luddite say “yeah.” But my favorite of the night was probably the somber “Robbers,” which was accompanied by a artwork on an overhead projector that highlighted the lyrics (much in the legacy of Bob Dylan).
This is a band with a lot of depth, and though their upcoming album might not be all that much of a surprise to those who have the EP’s, I’m sure that it will help to cement their status as surprisingly seasoned rock n roll band that is well worth the attention.
: Cold War Kids – Rubidoux :
: Cold War Kids – Hang Me Up To Dry (video) :
: Bruce Springsteen – State Trooper :
