A night before they take the stage at Delaware’s Firefly Music Festival, California’s Cold War Kids will make a stop in Richmond as part of their North American Tour entertain us with that all too familiar sound we’ve come to love since they delivered their debut album, Robbers & Cowards 12 years ago.
And tonight at The National, the jangly rock band will give us a taste of all of the hits with their latest release, Audience, a live album which was recorded during a show at the Georgia Theatre last year. The 16-track collection, which includes favorites like “Hang Me Up To Dry” and “Hospital Beds”, is the follow-up to 2017’s L.A. Divine, their last studio album.
Forming in 2004 in Fullerton, California, the group decided to make the move to Long Beach, which is where they began to carve out their own aesthetic of off-kilter piano jabs by Matthew Schwartz (keyboard and piano, percussion) and David Quon’s twinging slide guitar to accent Nathan Willett’s jarring vocals, particularly in early hits like “Saint John” and “Against Privacy”.
Cold War Kids have been out on the road since March, starting out on Texas, and jumping all over the country, with stops at major music festivals, and other music halls in Kentucky. Tennesse, Ohio, and North Carolina. Their tour will wrap up near the end of this month.
The band will undoubtedly feature songs from their new album as well as some of the expansive and ambitious efforts of their previous works from the 12-years since their debut release. “The excitement I have about this new album—it feels so much like the way I felt back when our first record came out,” said bassist Matt Maust in a press statement.
The follow-up to 2014’s Hold My Home – featuring the gold-certified singles like “First” and “Miracle Mile” Now- their sixth album LA Divine pays tribute to their adopted hometown of Los Angeles.
Upon first glance, LA Divine seems to merge that artful, anthem-hook style production with the signature Cold War Kids’ raw post-punk; its punk-pop but actually good. The production is still complex but far more vulnerable, a clear sign the band seems ready to come out into the light and re-establish their roots. Though I’m sure many in attendance still probably want to hear the sound of Cold War Kids we all continue to cherish over the radio and I’m sure the band will leave everyone more than satisfied.
Cold War Kids hit the stage at The National tonight at 8 pm. Doors at 7 pm and if you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, you can snag them online for $23 or at the door for $25.
Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond
