COLD WAR KIDS – ROBBERS AND COWARDS (2007)The U.K Rock hacks would regard 2006 as a good year for U.S music. The respected Uncut magazine voted 38 U.S albums in its top 50 for the year, and both Q and Mojo heralded more stateside artists than ever before. Cold War Kids missed the votes, as their debut had yet to be released on these shores, but the expectation was heightened by glowing headlines in the NME claiming that the Californians were the biggest sensation across the Atlantic, and this seemed to be backed up by the fact that ‘Robbers & Cowards’ has appeared in the year end charts of Rolling Stone, Spin and The Onion publications. High praise indeed, praise being applicable considering that three of the Fullerton four piece met at Evangelical college, and although this hasn’t led to a preaching of the virtues of the Good book, there is certain proof in Nathan Willett’s lyrics, that he is a studier and storyteller of his contingent of blue collar people, usually treading a precarious line, and inevitably falling on the wrong side of the tracks. Whilst The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn seems to be an integral part of his all American world of carnage, Willett keeps a safe distance and retains detachment. His unfortunate subject material is brilliantly exemplified by a degenerate drunken father on the opener “We Used To Vacation”. Hopelessly befuddled by excess, he promises sobriety and hopes for some sort of penance from society because after all, he may be letting his kids down but he’s making payments to “tax deductible charity organizations”. The story is told over tense, jagged rhythms and crushing Piano pounding.Judging by the quality of “Robbers And Cowboys”, Cold War Kids possess mountainous talent and genuine artistic potential. It’s my belief that this is a prelude to better recordings further into their career, for whilst this is a fine debut there are one or two moments where the stomping shambolic raw blues just fails in its coherent consistency. “Saint John” for example, seems to be troubled by some muddied and indecisive time signal changes which overshadow what is otherwise an interesting song, and the badly recorded hidden track at the end of “Rubidoux” is completely unnecessary. Fortunately, there are enough positive moments to offset the misfires, including “Hang Me Up To Dry”, “Robbers” and “Hospital Beds”. Credit must also go to Willett, who possesses a unique voice that befits the dramatic overtones of the songs.So maybe the hype was worthy, and although Cold War Kids aren’t quite the finished article yet, they’ve charted a promising career with a solid debut.7/10
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