Cold War Kids – “Hold My Home”

Predominantly up tempo and frequently frantic in delivery, Hold My Home is a record brimming with excitement.

Recorded in the band’s San Jose studio, Cold War Kids have lost none of their fervour as they deliver their fifth album. Bursting full throttle out of the blocks, opener All This Could Be Yours is an instant attention grabber. Jarring piano and penetrating kick drum drive a track that teeters on the precipice, a notion encapsulated when Nathan Willett declares “You’d rather crash than go straight ahead”.

‘First‘ drops the pace back slightly with handclaps and shimmering guitar accompanying another kick drum build up that builds into one of the band’s trademark singalong choruses.

https://soundcloud.com/coldwarkids/first

One of the record’s heavier moments ensues in ‘Drive Desperate‘ as sizzling guitar conveys an appropriate feel of ascending desperation, building steadily before dropping back somewhat unpredictably into a momentarily calming synth.

A couple of Cold War Kids more commercial sounding influences seep through with a hint of U2 being revealed in ‘Hotel Anywhere‘ and a touch of Muse emanating from the fuzzed up bass of the title track ‘Hold My Home‘. In between these tunes the meat of the album is used to slow things down with ‘Go Quietly‘ and ‘Nights And Weekends‘ ( the former featuring an impressive falsetto) making for a timely deviation. Tucked away at the back of the record ‘Harold Bloom‘ (“can you be wise if you never leave the room?”) is the real suprise on the journey. With the sparse beauty of a gentle piano and soulful vocal accompaniment, it would be easy to miss the disguised criticism of the famous literary critic.

Hold My Home once again displays Cold War Kids undeniable ability to punch out animated piano driven pop/rock. For the most part they will have you up and moving, but throw in a couple of quieter suprises along the way.

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Gavin Stocker

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Outside of Across The Ocean Gavin Stocker writes, records and performs music under the moniker of P Truck.

He can also be found clinging to his youth on a skateboard or wandering aimlessly through the bush.