SOUND BITES

I've done variations on this theme several times in the past, usually after a long period of time during which I abandon my responsibilities around here and allow unreviewed releases to pile up high. Now that my "reviews" are shorter and without much deep thought involved, I kind of figured we wouldn't get to this point again so soon; and yet, here we are. Anyway, here are some albums I've checked out over the summer but not yet shared my opinions on; I could have done haiku just as easily as dropping one or two sentences as I have below, but it turns out I'm too lazy to even arrange this shit into the proper lines and syllables. Shrug. MONDO COZMO New Medicine June 12, 2020 • Last Gang Highlights Black Cadillac • Upside Down • Come On For his second album as Mondo Cozmo, Josh Ostrander got help from some heavy hitters; Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Peter Hayes features heavily, both as a guest guitarist and co-producer, and previous single Come On was co...

Cold War Kids find themselves entering the twilight of their first decade as a band in a state of limbo. After a debut LP that earned them boatloads of that sweet, sweet indie cred (2006's Robbers & Cowards ), a quirky but lifeless follow-up (2008's Loyalty To Loyalty ) and a bridge burning mainstream bid (2011's Mine Is Yours ), 2013's Little Miss Lonelyhearts seemed to find them stranded in a horribly uninteresting middle ground. Too cerebral to be commercially viable and too scattershot to be cohesive, it left the band in the somewhat perilous position of dying on the fence they were straddling. Perhaps sensing the gravity of the situation, fifth album Hold My Home is a more focused on tunes than their past few releases. It could be the comfort of recording at their home studio, or increased familiarity with recently added members Joe Plummer and Matthew Schwartz. Whatever the case, it's a cohesive album that sees the group making a conscious effort to cr...

COLD WAR KIDS Miracle Mile From: Dear Miss Lonelyhearts Released: April 2 A couple of years ago around this time, I predicted the transformation of Cold War Kids into Maroon 5; thankfully, that didn't happen. However, what has started to develop is a disturbing pattern; a moderately well performing lead single, then nobody pays any mind for two years. It seems like Cold War Kids have painted themselves into a bit of a corner, too mainstream for the indie critics' acceptance and too off the wall for the public's adoration. Oh well, I enjoy Miracle Mile , even with all that piano. See you in 2015!

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...