At first listen, this album seemed like a complete waste of my time and especially money. It sounded like it was a good thing they released the songs that they did, because almost everything else sucked. But now I’m here to tell you that this is not the case at all. Robbers & Cowards is the group’s first album without the label of ‘EP’ and it is well deserved of the honor. Cold War Kids is from Fullerton, California and they are made up of Matt Aviero, Matt Maust, Jonnie Russel, Nathan Willett.
The album starts off with two of the groups singles, We Used to Vacation and Hang Me Up to Dry. Their fast, stomping beats and repeating guitar riffs give a great intro into the album. Although this appearance is relatively constant through the album, there are a few songs which seem to throw a curve from this ‘normality’ of the album. In Hair Down, there is a section with just vocals and a steady tambourine in the background before it gets back into the regular verse. And at first you may say “What the *** is this?” (which is exactly what I said) but listening to the whole song makes it very interesting and a nice distinction from the rest of the album.
A few other tracks in the middle of album also add a very good dissimilarity to the rest of the album, with more piano and acoustic guitar rather than the hard steady beats exposed earlier. Robbers, Hotel Bed, and Pregnant slow the album down from songs like Passing the Hat and Saint John, where gang vocals and staccato notes are most prevalent. These tracks remind me of a more indie sound like Death Cab For Cutie with a little Elliott Smith. It picks back up with the last three tracks that puts you back into the mood of the tracks from the beginning. Rubidoux, the last song on the album is in my opinion one of the best, is eleven minutes long. Hardly and ‘epic’, there is a three minute break from the time the song ends until a new, poorly recorded song comes out of nowhere for the last 4 minutes or so. So that’s it, short and to-the-point, pretty good album but nothing to rave about.
My first review so tell me if it sucked will you?
Recommended Tracks:
Tell Me In The Morning
Saint John
Hospital Beds |
