The hyped up, jellybean bouncing piano and excited vocal that kick-start ‘Miracle Mile’before a chunky, choppy guitar rushes in on a tide of exuberant drumming is a recipe for an indie anthem. But then do we need any more indie anthems? Really, do we? Now CD compilations are defunct as a quick cash-in, I rather doubt it. Similarly, do we really need any more serious-minded electro poppers on the scene? That’s a rhetorical question.
‘Lost that Easy’ is half Yazoo, half Florence and the Machine, completely radio and arena friendly... and save for a nice middle eight, utterly predictable. The thumping funk-infused bass of ‘Loner Phase’ underpins a stippling dance synth melded to a disco beat, but if you can stomach that then there’s still the whoopingly flamboyant vocals to contend with, and it would be fair to say that Nathan Willett is no Billy Mackenzie, and besides, Cold War Kids just haven’t got the pop panache of The Associates. ‘Bottled Affection’ just feels as contrived as it is overblown, and ‘Jailbirds’ is like Keane covering Foreigner, and yes, it’s every bit as bad as it sounds.
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So what does this all mean? Well, tracks like the sappy rock ballad ‘Tuxedos’ only confuse matters further. It does little to convince that Cold War Kids’ fourth album has much to recommend it. After an age struggling to find a suitable adjective to summarise ‘Dear Miss Lonelyhearts’, it was while listening to the pompously indulgent closer, ‘Bitter Poem’ that it clicked, and there’s only one word for it: wanky.
Cold War Kids Online
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