The first time I ever heard of the Cold War Kids was at an Apple store, finding the song Hang Me Up to Dry on a sample iPod. I immediately thought the song was awesome. The raw immediacy of the bass-line, the cryptic lyrics sung by the bipolar lead singer, and the sheer uniqueness were what really drew me in. I'd never heard such an interesting combination of elements.
I became a huge fan of this new band very quickly. I loved how they combined storytelling with music in a seamless way. Hospital Beds invokes the frustration, boredom, and sorrow of being stuck in long term hospital care. We Used to Vacation is about a mid-life crisis and being stuck in a middle-class rut. Every Man I Fall For softly tells the story of a bad relationship from a hopeless woman's perspective. Most every song I heard was fantastic even before I listened to the lyrics, but then adding stories with Hemingway-esque subtlety and descriptive candor over the raw emotion of Nathan Willett's vocal stylings, and well, it would have been shocking if I didn't completely love them.
Fast forward to January 25th, when the Cold War Kids' newest album, Mine is Yours, arrived into my iTunes account via pre-ordered download. After excitedly listening to it, I can safely, and sadly say this: R.I.P. Cold War Kids.
For reasons that are beyond me, the creative decision-makers behind the band (Willett being apparently chief among them) conceived, planned, and executed the destruction of my tender heart. They released Robbers and Cowards, the unbelievable debut. Then Loyalty to Loyalty, admittedly a step backward, or at least sideways, but still featuring some classic songs. They even released the four track EP Behave Yourself, only exiting me more for their next full-length album. And I heard a single off the new record, Louder Than Ever, which was still pretty cool. Not their best song, but I could jam out to it. Nothing in this paragraph prepared me for the bulk of the album itself.
The thing is, it's not even that bad. It's worse than bad: it's bland. It's soulless. It's... lame. Listen to Skip the Charades and try to tell me that was written by the same band as the songs I listed above. It sounds like it should be at the critical scene of a terrible romantic comedy. "I'm the one that's acting like/ I'm so strong/ You're the one that's acting like/ nothing's wrong"? Seriously? In fact, I'd be surprised if I don't hear some of this new album on ads for the next 18 months worth of cliché crap aimed at women.
I hate to be that guy that whines when his favorite band sells out. But how could a band go from producing unique, interesting and thought-provoking music to producing Finally Begin? It's like they suddenly wanted to become a lame version of Kings of Leon combined with Train. Oh what a surprise, they used the same producer as the Kings of Leon. This album is like Coppola making the first two Godfathers, then for the third movie making the a lifeless, overwrought melodrama with no interesting or unique ideas. Wait, that actually kind of happened. Let me try again: It's like if George Lucas made Star Wars: Episodes IV-VI, and then... hold on, I don't like where this is going either.
I suppose I should get used to the idea of good things getting dumbed down and polished to the point that everything interesting about them is removed. I just know I never expected such a level of sophistication coming down so fast, and it hurt me in a way I'm not sure I'll recover from. I can't ever remember something so good becoming so bad in such a short amount of time. So once again, R.I.P., version of Cold War Kids that I love. We'll always have your first two albums.
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