Derek Sedam
Assistant Online Editor
In 2006, Fullerton quartet Cold War Kids formed an unlikely mash-up that had the blogosphere buzzing thanks to the band’s initial demos that leaked online. Lead singer Nathan Willet’s out-of-the-ordinary tales, combined with the backing of old-school blues guitarist Jon Russell, made the group an unlikely success in its indie genre.
The unique songs on the band’s debut, “Robbers & Cowards,” secured it prime spots in the hype machine with the mainstream success of the single “Hang Me Up To Dry,” which was covered from the likes of Kate Nash and The White Stripes for its simple melody and remarkable lyrics.
Willet’s clean-cut, high-pitched vocals of stories, ranging from pregnancy to alcoholism, tied together remorseful tales of lost souls traveling alone.
But, with these dark subject materials came the inconsistency and stale material of “Cowards” (the album was pasted together from previous EPs), which made the debut forgettable in the coming months of its release. This prompted questions from Cold War Kids’ fans about whether its next album would debut new material.
On its new work, “Loyalty to Loyalty,” the album’s inconsistency still shows with a littering of poor tracks, but Cold War Kids’ take on retro-American rock and Los Angeles-drawn 60s blues is interesting enough to still be relevant.
It’s Willet’s take on songwriting that make this album something to uphold. He straddles the line between vivid lyrical description and soul music, between canvas painting and headphone material. While in “Cowards” his observations strayed into the somewhat underworld of the bizarre, things are held more in check.
The Kids get political on the first two tracks of a very poignant opener. Willet and his band channel The Doors on “Against Privacy,” their ode to their loyal indie-hipster followers.
“Forget ex-girlfriends / We want little governments / We tell stories / We want to get you to join in… / Call us optimistic… / We are bust through romantics / History books will show,” Willet croons, as his swirling organs combine with a menacing blues rhythm section that transitions into “Mexican Dogs.”
It’s the only song in which Willet’s voice is more “tenor” than “out-of-breath singer,” which people are used to. It’s a welcome change of scenery that is also seen on the suicidal retrospective, “Golden Gate Jumpers.”
Again taking pages out of the past, “Dogs” relies heavily on story territories covered by past Americana artists like “Nebraska” — reminiscent of the Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits era.
“High tide rattlin’ up / Say goodbye to the friends you brought / Roll with us… / Flashlights go out / Stars will light the way / Like Mexican dogs / Nobody gave us names,” Willet sings over reverb guitar and a bouncy baseline.
The lead single “Something is Not Right With Me” starts out sounding like all Cold War Kids’ indie-rock peers, trying to get the crowd dancing. But, when Russell’s guitar kicks in and the tempo changes, the band makes the song its own.
“I tried to call you collect / You said you would not accept / Your friends are laughing ‘cause nobody uses payphones,” yelps Willet about outdated technology, as he tries to catch up with his band (and his girl) as they fiercely bang away.
It’s strange to see the way the tracks are arranged. Tracks such as “Welcome to the Occupation,” “Avalanche in B,” “Relief” and “Cryptomnesia” can’t get over soon enough before things get interesting again.
Willet’s poetry describing girls that always fall for the wrong guy is nothing short of eloquent in “Every Man I Fall For,” as the band rises and falls with her destruction.
“Every man I fall for drinks his coffee black / Love and hate are tattooed on his knuckles / And my name is on his back,” Willett sings.
“Dreams Old Men Dream,” is by far the stand-out track on record and, surprisingly, the most modern. The Kids combine the shoe-gazing guitars of The Verve’s best with the biggest and most accessible Coldplay chorus, as Willet digs deeper into the human psyche about dreams and failures.
“Thought I was laying in the gutter with milk cartons and bones / But I was on a mountaintop / Looking over everyone’s homes,” Willet sings.
The Cold War Kids don’t take too many chances on “Loyalty to Loyalty.” The band’s trademark lyricism is still filled with fluid storytelling, and its music masked in excellent 60s guitar and reverb. The only chances Cold War Kids takes come out as filler, but when it sticks to its cell-phoneless generations, it shines.
09-25-2008
