I'm more than excited to share this with you, for one reason and that is the Cold War Kids. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Sir Michael Rocks as much as any hip-hop head, but it's always nice to throw some indie in the mix. Now if your not familiar with Blended Babies, get familiar, as they are responsible for the production of this remix as well as plenty of fresh material for the future.
Throughout the years, we've seen Cold War Kids sonically evolve from a mere band with a quirky, loose sound into a true indie outfit with an altogether unique, tight musical style.
On this their third full-length LP, "Mine Is Yours", Cold War Kids have molded their bluesy, reverby sound into a more colossal, room-filling area sonically, and it's an improvement. They've switched things up and brought in producer, Jacquire King who produced Kings of Leon's "Only by the Night" album, and it has payed off.
The track "Mine is Yours" starts the LP off nicely enough and is followed by the crackly, overdrive-drenched guitars of "Louder Than Ever". As far as I'm concerned, the track "Finally Begin" is destined for at least some radio success with its hooks that seem almost incessant, but in a nice, refreshing way, not boring in the least.
The second half of the LP takes some sonic risks but is only somewhat successful overall. "Skip the Charades" is probably the stand-out track on the latter half of the album with some driving, almost wildly enthusiastic drumming alongside the already reverb-drenched guitars. The experimentation Cold War Kids have been known for these last years is also present with the electronic-sounding "Sensitive Kid"--the melody dances around jerky guitars with an almost overly computer-processed drum pattern.
Overall, "Mine Is Yours" is a decent effort from Cold War Kids, but it does leave a few expectations unmet. It has a ton of promise and certainly shows their maturation as an indie outfit, but many of the tunes tend to come off sounding like ballads that have a tendency to sound a little monotonous. It's a good record but I think Cold War Kids can do better.
