The Cold War Goes Dark
Loyalty to Loyalty features Cold War Kids delve into a deeper sound.
Cold War Kids
Loyalty to Loyalty
Released on Sep 23, 2008
It's a difficult situation to be a band with a critically acclaimed debut album. The pressure to avoid a sophomore slump is great, and sometimes bands try to pull out all the bells and whistles on their second album. This generally can lead to an album that sounds nothing like the sound that got so much critical acclaim in the first place.
Cold War Kids made many a “best of” list with their debut album Robbers & Cowards, a gritty blues tinged rock album that was as raw as it was honest. With Loyalty to Loyalty, Cold War Kids offer up more of the same, keeping with a consistency of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," albeit a bit more mature and dark.
Loyalty to Loyalty is getting mixed reviews thus far, and to no surprise. Lead singer Nathan Willett's vocals aren't for everyone, a whiskey soaked urgency that can be grating on the mind at times. But to many, myself included, the voice is different in an inviting way; much like Tom Waits and Bob Dylan have their own odd vocal inflection. The music has matured, with subtle layers of sound being added in – but the obvious difference is darker, macabre like lyrics. The album follows an evident format, starting much more up-tempo and light before swirling into a much darker mass towards the end. Despite no real hook, the opener "Against Privacy" plods along at first, but picks up and finds itself catchy enough to get lodged in your brain for later. "Every Valley Is Not A Lake" is a jangley piano romp that is sultry and fun before leading into the first single "Something Is Not Right With Me." The tonal change comes with the next track, "Welcome To The Occupation," a song full of stark and cynical lyricism. A lot of the songs on Loyalty to Loyalty sound like there is a great weight being burdened on Willett and crew, and that everything is delivered with a heavy sigh.
The album becomes much more sinister and sad from on out, with lyrics like "ants were crawling out of a grimy bathroom drain, janitor was laughing, he's finally gone insane," on the morose "On The Night My Love Broke Through." There is a break towards the end with "Relief" with a slight electronic sound that is reminiscent of Cold War Kids cover of Radiohead's "Electioneering." The album ends again on a note of sorrow in a giant crashing heap with "Cryptomnesia."
High Point
I personally enjoy "Relief," but then again I like a lot of things that rip off some sort of sound from Radiohead.
Low Point
The grating at my last nerve "Avalanche In B," a song that sounds something similar vocally to a cat in heat. This is the one point where Willett's voice finally pushes me over my threshold and I have to change the song.
Posted by Lisa White on Oct 13, 2008 @ 7:00 am
