Cold War Kids - Loyalty to Loyalty
Let me set the scene for you.Cold War Kids is an indie band based in California and is made up of Nathan Willett (lead vocals, piano, guitar), Jonnie Russell (guitar, vocals, percussion), Matt Maust (bass guitar), and Matt Aveiro (drums).
In 2006 they released their first LP, Robbers & Cowards, which was an amazing album. It was full of varied tracks, ranging from soulful to rocking. With very poetic lyrics, Robbers & Cowards was a moving album that had great playback value and was a Triple J favourite.
With a predecessor as fantastic as this, the new album from the Cold War Kids, Loyalty to Loyalty, released September 2008, had a lot to live up to.
Songs such as "Something Is Not Right With Me" are fun and will get people on their feet. Unfortunately, the title of this song also sums up the album. Loyalty lacks something, but it is hard to put a finger on what it is.
Maybe it is that the band does not seem to be trying very hard. It is as if the Cold War Kids have just sat down in the studio and jammed, without bothering to construct decent songs.
The tunes do not flow. Tracks like "Avalanche In B" have just been thrown together without any glue to make them sound melodic.
There are definitely some good'uns in Loyalty, though. "I've Seen Enough", "Every Man I Fall For" and "Dreams Old Men Dream" are fairly tuneful songs that tell good stories. "Golden Gate Jumpers" is also passable.
Loyalty to Loyalty employs a lot of piano, courtesy of Willet. This is a great aspect of the album and is very strong, loud and meaningful. Think Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes.
It has been said that Cold War Kids were influenced by Jeff Buckley and this comes through strongly in this album. Loyalty has a brooding, troubled feel, much like Buckley's only album, Grace.
Willet, again like Buckley, has a beautiful voice that expresses great emotion, as was shown on Robbers & Cowards. Loyalty, however, is left too raw to properly harness this talent. Instead his vocals become grating after a while, as not enough was done to soften the edges of this album.
This lack of mixing and editing leads to the album sounding quite experimental and this could explain what has gone wrong with Loyalty. If it was indeed an experiment, it shows that the Cold War Kids were not out to make a proper album, but rather to delve into their music and see what they could find, which was apparently not much.
If you want to get Loyalty to hear more of the fantastic music you heard on Robbers & Cowards, then don't. You will be bitterly disappointed.
This gets 2 stars out of 5 and although it may be unfair to compare this album to the Cold War Kids' amazing debut, it would get a poor score either way.
