Cold War So Not Over

After boarding the stage and some minor tune tweaking, these skinny men in their skinny jeans launched right into "We Used to Vacation," an unnerving serpent of a song about a man and his tug-of-war between booze and family. These pulling battles were evident in much of CWK's performance, both in the lyrical sense and the musical. Many of their songs have an eccentric schizophrenic feel to them; they sweep, bow and beguile one moment only to spit, shove, and startle the next – a sonic move physically characterized through the band's manic, frenzied and at times downright jittery dancing – bodies spin, necks twist and jerk, while guitars slay the air.

We kept thinking it would be hell to fill in for someone on that stage. You wouldn't know what hit you. You'd be playing bass one minute and stumbling to retrieve your severed head the next. To put it simply, these guys had energy to burn and and the fire kept on, right to the end of the final song. It was even enough to keep us from wanting too much to squish the cute but holy-shit-annoying pixie in the front row, who thought she was the drummer throughout the entire show.

As far as we could tell CWK painted the high ceiling of Neumo's with every song from their forthcoming full-length debut, Robbers & Cowards, including the KEXP-loved "Hospital Beds" and our new favorite, "St. John," a miraculous and fiercely turbulent song about a young man on death row – put there for killing a man in his sister's honor.

Cold War Kids put on a fantastic performance. You can bet your Commie-fearing butt we'll be back for more the next time they blow into town.

Robbers & Cowards will be released October 10th on Downtown Recordings.