Year in Rock 2011 Nominee: Cold War Kids

COLD WAR KIDS
Louder Than Ever

From: Mine is Yours
Released: January 25

It seems like a lifetime ago that Cold War Kids' mix of Southern rock, blues and modern pop was the toast of Indie Town, their amazing debut album Robbers and Cowards gracing every other top ten list that existed online. Then, something happened. By which I mean, the bloggers and critics abandoned the band by the time they released their quirky, rather difficult follow-up Loyalty to Loyalty. Indeed, the album was heavily criticized for being too odd and not enough fun, which this writer presumed was the backbone of the entire indie rock community. I must be getting too old for this shit.

Anyway, now you know the story; local band does good, gets noticed, gets praised, gets weirder, gets ignored. Which brings us to Mine is Yours. In a musical equivalent to Cartman's "screw you guys, I'm goin' home", Cold War Kids recorded their 2011 release with producer Jacquire King, whose most notable resumé entry is Kings of Leon's multi-platinum breakthrough Only By the Night. You can almost hear the Followill brothers harmonizing on lead single Louder Than Ever, a smoky, swaggering track that is equal parts sex and fire. Of course, the critics didn't care to give more than a passing glance and a paragraph-long, less-than-average review to the album, and it obviously wasn't their commercial breakthrough. Looks like Cold War Kids are standing at a crossroads; do they make the music that's in their souls, or continue down the path to mainstream acceptance? I, for one, say crank up this track and enjoy the ever-loving shit out of it before Cold War Kids' inevitable transformation into Maroon 5.

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