Album Reviews
Like Creedence Clearwater Revival before them, blog-buzz kings Cold War Kids channel the gothic spirit of the Deep South -- at least as imagined by dudes from California. But this suburban Los Angeles foursome has some actual holy-roller bona fides. Three of the four (frontman Nathan Willett, bassist Matt Maust and guitarist Jonathan Bo Russell) met at an evangelical Christian college, and the spirit of an old-fashioned tent revival infuses the band's remarkable story songs. Over cave-stomp drums, barroom piano and chiming post-punk guitars, Willett -- whose high tenor sounds a little like Jack White's -- spins tales that wouldn't seem out of place in a Flannery O'Connor collection. There's a drunk who continually disappoints his family ("We Used to Vacation"); a death-row inmate imprisoned for killing his sister's would-be rapist ("Saint John"); a criminal on a midnight run with "bourbon and a pistol in the dash, out of sight" ("Rubidoux"). And much as Bruce Springsteen feels deep sympathy for the murderers and fuckups who populate Nebraska, Robbers & Cowards has a deeply Christian take on its titular anti-heroes: that even the worst among us is capable of redemption.
(Posted: Oct 30, 2006)
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Track List
- We Used To Vacation (Album)
- Hang Me Up To Dry (Album)
- Tell Me In The Morning (Album)
- Hair Down (Album)
- Passing The Hat (Album)
- Saint John (Album)
- Robbers (Album)
- Hospital Beds (Album)
- Pregnant (Album)
- Red Wine, Success! (Album)
- God, Make Up Your Mind (Album)
- Rubidoux (Album)
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