2006 was a good year for Cold War Kids — getting the internet love, the NME love, becoming a lightning rod for music critic conversations about blog bands and Christianity, etc. They’re back now with the Loyalty To Loyalty LP, and on first listen to the lead single we noted not too much had changed (“they learned a disco rhythm — otherwise it’s still relatively twitchy and full of those soul yelps”). The video shows the Kids are still twitchy in person, too, although that fits the song’s title — in an abandoned warehouse space, drawing on chalkboards and knocking shit over, rocking in chairs and frantically trading dishware. I.e. trying not to let it show, not doing a very good job of it.
Loyalty To Loyalty is out 9/23 via Downtown. Download two remixes of “Something Is Not Right With Me” at MySpace.
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It hasn’t been a popular position for me to take, but I like this Cold War Kids track more than what they’ve done in the past.
do all you have to do to sell records is yell a line over and over again over a disco beat and people like it? this is fucking terrible
yeah, thats all you have to do, you’ve figured out the record industry buddy..congrats!
now why dont you go write & record something nearly as good as this.
duh. this is why loop pedals are so fuckin sweet.
j/k. i think you’re a tard.
maybe i’m missing something here but where is the disco beat? I didn’t hear the least bit of disco in this song, it just sounded boring
This is the only good song off their new record. I was so surprised to hear how awful, boring and slow their new record was..besides this gem
Damn. This band sucks so much.
What?!?! Stereogum users trashing an effort from a generally accepted Indie band’s second album? You hipster elitists are so fucking predictable. Try liking something for once.
If something decent were to be released this year, there would be a reason to like something.
@ Gideonian,
How will everyone know how angst-y/misunderstood there are, if they come out and say they like something?
It’s not a terrible album. This track is very infectious. I also like Mexican Dogs and I’ve Seen Enough. But everything else is rather bland, the lead singer yelps too much and the songs overstay their welcome.
Yeah. If you don’t like something, you’re a hipster elitist. How do I know? Because you’re posting on Stereogum! I’m uhh…just here to tell you how elitist you are.
I mean, I could probably never ever listen to this song more than once (I wouldn’t call it bad, but his voice does not sound pleasurable for me in this context, though Hang Me Out to Dry is dope), but still.
I keep saying, it’s so funny how quick people are to call someone a hipster fuck and talk about how shitty they are, when the namecaller doing the same thing (being vindictive on an indie blog, being dismissive to everyone else, simply because it doesn’t agree with what they like) that they accuse the supposed hipsters are doing.
By the way, repeating something over and over is called a fucking chorus.
Emanuel, I see where you are coming from saying that I am being vindictive. But I mean, look at the comments on here;
“Damn. This band sucks so much.”
“Shits not good”
“this is fucking terrible”
I can understand someone not liking something , but that shit is just blind hate. And i see it all the time on this site, a band is crowned kings of the indie scene, they get a little notoriety, they get trashed. It just gets a little old.
The “hipster” Build-and-Burn beauty pageant isn’t much different than the mainstream’s, we know.
But the entire internet is a breeding ground for hate speech. That’s not an indie blog thing. I mean, it’s just largely unavoidable. I just wouldn’t get caught up in it by becoming what you hate/fear- to put it generically.
Maybe one day, someone important will take a strong, eloquent stance- but until then people will wrap themselves in the same cycles and replicate the very errors they supposedly rally against. I’ve done it myself far more than I’d like on the net and in everyday life.
shit’s not good.
basically their whole last album was better than this song.
Damn people, there is no loyalty here. I guess disavow is the protocol when a band has some success attached to it. This song screams Cold War Kids to me, and I associate them with a very unique and infectious sound. So far, I think they’re still delivering. Fans are so half ass nowadays, simply because they can be.
At least Hang Me Up To Dry was catchy… this track is just bullshit.
Robbers & Cowards was a great bluesy americana sort of album and in my opinion this isn’t as good as some of their previous stuff but i am yet to hear the whole new album so i’m not ready to go throwing “sophomore slump” claims around quite yet.
i think its probably pretty foolish for people to just make the comparison between this song and Hang Me Up To Dry (which wasn’t even my favorite song from Robbers & Cowards) just because they are singles.
basically, i’m just saying there’s quite a bit of douchebaggery going on here right now.
by the way, I only compared it to Hang Me Up to Dry because that’s the only other CWK song I’ve really heard. I was just saying that I didn’t have an inherent problem with the singer’s voice, but I just didn’t like the way it sounded here.
Look: I’m not disliking this song because “I’m supposed to be a hipster” or because “I hate every second album by an Indie band”. It’s because this band is – indeed – terrible, from day one on. This Band is nothing more than a dull, very boring, washed out version of The Walkmen.
I like it.
Loved the first album. I find it hard to believe that people do not enjoy Hospital Beds or Hang Me Out To Dry. Not crazy about this song though. We’ll see what the rest of album has to offer.
I’ve listened to their new album all the way through 3 times and determined that their are 2 just awful songs on the album. This is one of them. The rest is pretty good, though. No idea why they picked this annoying, yelping track as the first single.
Are they on speed?
remember that scene in Beetlejuice where Beetlejuice terrifies Otho by zapping into an unhip outfit? (Oh, the horror!) That reminds me of most of you. As for the Cold War Kids, I couldn’t bother to listen to them..mostly because their name is so stupid, but also because they are really awful. I don’t have to hear them to know that – I’ve seen how they dress.
What’s Beetlejuice?
wow. yet again this band comes at me with thee most annoying vocal delivery since Grace Jones got that flat top on public access cable. somethings certainly not right with me, listening to this pile of shit. the rest of the album is basically Album #1 – Pt. 2. please downtown records, please drop them. use that brand new label funding from interscope and wall street and dump this band (DTB)
I wish the guitarist people wouldn’t keep jumping around. They don’t need to jump around so much. They look stupid.
quote of the day
?Video killed the radio star- and now the Internet is finishing the job?
this is painfully awful.
My friend played this song on his computer and I found myself tapping my foot. I may have even said something like “this is pretty good.” That was before I came here and realized I’m not supposed to like it. Shit! Can you please post a Grizzly Bear song? It’s easy with them. I know I’m always supposed to say it’s awesome. Or just say something about Oasis and I can say Noel’s a twat!
Not great, but not nearly as bad as their cover of a change is gonna come, that is truly shit.
It’s the vocals that make this hard to handle… when the guitar comes in it actually sounds nice. It’s the tone and delivery of those vocals that make me wanna shudder…
When the guitar comes in it actually sounds kinda nice. It’s the tone and delivery of those vocals that make me wanna run away…
these dudes jump up and down in the video because they’re Jumping For Jesus …
Real mature, buddy.
call it as i see it chief.
Love the song. Cant wait for the album!
good shit. COLD WAR KIDS ARE GENIUSES.
They are actually very sweet guys. Also, way to throw stones in your own glass house. You just sound like you wear skinny jeans and bad facial hair.
hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i’ve got an idea! NO ONE GIVES A FUCK THAT YOU DON’T LIKE IT! WE DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOUR OPINION! Let the people who like the song comment on it. why the hell are you wasting your time just griping all the time
??
As a fan (apparently the only one) (and the only one that actually listened to more than one song off their first album) I can say this album isn’t as good, but few will be as Robbers and Cowards is a gem in and of its own.
It’s okay, but I will definitely have to check out the rest of the album.
And does anyone else think the lead singer looks like Woody Harrelson?
Lead singer (Nathan Willett) looks like Scott Wrinkle.
i think we are all missing the point here…there is no disco beat in this song. what are you people talking about. this sounds like a commercial.
I think we’re all missing the point here. It’s more of a disco BASS line than anything else, in the same vein as Blur’s “Boys & Girls” – I’m surprised no one has mentioned that yet. I’m also surprised that CWK chose to stick with the same sound for their 2nd album. Not saying they should’ve abandoned it entirely but I think Robbers & Cowards was as far as they could go with the yelping, reverbing, str8-outta-the-garage sound. I sorta feel the same way about The Walkmen but with Hamilton’s voice, I’m not sure they if can go beyond their sound.
The Mulberry Street EP is still my fav. It had the grit , all the swagger and that huge kick drum that shook my soul
God I was looking forward to this album, but alas, I now realize that there is nothing to look forward to in the world…at all. Thank God I have this wonderfully elitist website to post my indie elitist comments on, or I would have nothing to do all day but complain about the hardships of life. Well thats all for now…..I’m going to go blog about how every band not on an indie label sucks.