Reviews

Essentially Cold War Kids play rock music. That’s all; but they play with such a great feel for pace and dynamic, that they often resemble scarily possessed and manic men.

This could, in certain bands, lead to accusations of pretension. For Cold War Kids, it undoubtedly helps to illustrate their morally grimy tales of urban America.

What that means is that lines like “I picked up a brick from my papa’s front yard and threw it in his face” or “One hundred years of solitude and only twelve years old” or “He’s done so much more than politicians or dead musicians” come across sounding, not po-faced or over earnest, but joyous and transcendental.

Accompanied by an angular and strangled blues’n’roll that isn’t inclined to be tram-lined by tradition or easy musical options, and it’s no wonder that this gig provided so many exciting moments.

Nathan Willett is a great singer too, swooping from hollers to laments as he persuades you that his characters are worth rooting for in a maelstrom of reverbed guitars, piano and the kind of drumming just off the beat of expectation. Cold War Kids are that good.